Paul van Laar
- Research Associate – Scientist
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About
Paul van Laar is a Technical Art Historian based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. He is Research Associate (Scientific Research) at the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Hamilton Kerr Institute, University of Cambridge. He obtained a cum laude MSc in Technical Art History from the University of Amsterdam (2021) and a magna cum laude BSc in Chemistry and Art History from University College Utrecht. Paul is currently completing a PhD jointly between NOVA University Lisbon (Research Unit VICARTE: Glass and Ceramics for the Arts) and the University of Cambridge, focusing on the varied use of the blue pigment smalt in early modern paintings.
Before joining the HKI, he contributed to several major research projects at the Rijksmuseum, including the 2023 Vermeer exhibition and Operation Night Watch. He also serves as Assistant Editor for ArtMatters: International Journal for Technical Art History.
Personal website: https://www.paulvanlaar.nl
Research
Paul’s work bridges the sciences and the humanities to study how artworks were made, altered, and perceived. He combines scientific analysis, advanced imaging, and art historical inquiry to uncover hidden aspects of artistic practice and material use.
At the HKI and Fitzwilliam Museum, he employs non-invasive imaging techniques, including MA-XRF scanning, infrared reflectography, X-radiography, and high-resolution microscopy, alongside micro-invasive methods such as cross-section analysis and SEM-EDS. His specialism lies in seventeenth-century Dutch painting, though his work extends to other easel paintings, enamels, works on paper, and three-dimensional objects.
In addition to his material research, Paul is actively involved in developing digital tools and databases for technical art history. He co-developed IntACT, an open-source platform for inspecting combined CT and 3D data of multi-material objects, and Down to the Ground, a queryable database on coloured grounds in paintings between 1500 and 1650.