Hybrid symposium: Medieval miniatures from Byvanck to the RKD

On 18 March 2025, the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History will host a symposium on illuminated manuscripts to celebrate the addition of the Byvanck Database of Medieval Miniatures to RKD Research.

History, Transformation, Future

The Dutch heritage of illuminated manuscripts is much larger than most people realise. These hand-written and decorated books from the Middle Ages contain tens of thousands of painted images – many more than the number of surviving panel paintings from the period.

For some years now, the RKD has been running a project to make this cultural treasure available online. The ‘Medieval miniatures from Byvanck to RKD’ project builds on the ‘Byvanck Database’, which was founded in 1989 by a working group of specialists, the Alexander Willem Byvanck Genootschap. Recently, the medieval book illustrations have been added to the online collections of the RKD. They can be viewed and studied in RKD Research, together with numerous works of art in other media.

This important milestone within the project is the reason for this symposium.

Symposium Medieval miniatures from Byvanck to the RKD

Four international speakers will present a fascinating mix of talks of interest to specialists, students and the general public. The makers and buyers of illuminated manuscripts in the fifteenth-century Low Countries will be discussed. There will also be a focus on research into book illumination and on the opportunities (and challenges) of connecting digital heritage collections. The afternoon will conclude with festive drinks.

Talks

• Systematic Studies of Dutch Medieval Manuscript Illumination: Past and Present
  James Marrow (emeritus hoogleraar Kunstgeschiedenis, University of Princeton)
• Manuscript Illumination in the Northern Netherlands: Patterns of Production and Demand  
  Anne Margreet As-Vijvers (senior conservator Middeleeuwse Boekverluchting, RKD)
• Multi-Tasking Manuscript Illuminators in the Fifteenth-Century Netherlands and Europe 
  Thomas Kren (emeritus conservator Handschriften, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)
• A Well-Marked Path or Labyrinth? Medieval Manuscripts and Linked Data
  Mariken Teeuwen (senior onderzoeker bij het Huygens Instituut, KNAW Amsterdam, en bijzonder hoogleraar Schriftcultuur in de Middeleeuwen, Universiteit Leiden)

For more information about the program and the abstracts of the talks, click here.