Caroline Villers Research Fellowship
The Courtauld, together with the Trustees of the Caroline
Villers Research Fellowship, have established a Research Fellowship
in memory of Caroline Villers. The purpose of the Fellowship is
to promote research in the interdisciplinary
field of Technical Art History: the application of technical,
scientific and/or historical methods, together with close observation,
to the study of the physical nature of the work of art in relation
to issues of making, change, conservation and/or display.
The Fellowship is advertised annually, in the spring, and
interviews take place in early July. Research proposals for
the Fellowship are welcomed from researchers and practitioners
from diverse disciplines relating to the study and conservation
of works of art. The Fellowship is also open to applicants
in permanent employment wishing to take leave of absence to
work on a project. The maximum period of tenure is 9 months,
but requests for shorter projects are also considered. The
Fellow is based at the Courtauld Institute of Art although
collaborations with other institutions are encouraged.
For a list of the Trustees click here
Caroline Villers
Caroline
Villers was Director of the Department of Conservation and
Technology at the Courtauld Institute of Art, 1999-2004. As
David Bomford notes, ‘What mattered most to Caroline
was the exploration of the ways in which works of art were
made, the processes of artistic creation. What fascinated her
was the notion of artistic intention made tangible in the physical
reality of the work of art. In her lectures, she conjured up
the unique, essential combination of hand and eye, intellect
and circumstance, resulting in a seminal work of art’.
For
David Bomford’s remarks at the inauguration of the
Fellowship, click here.
For appreciations of Caroline Villers click here.
CAROLINE VILLERS RESEARCH FELLOWs 2011-2012
There will be two Caroline Villers Research Fellows in 2011-12; Dr B.D. Nandadeva of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka and Dr Jim Harris of the Courtauld Institute of Art.
Tomb figure of Andrew Bayninge, polychromed alabaster, 1610; St Olave Hart Street, London. Photograph © Jim Harris, 2010
Jim Harris completed his PhD thesis, Donatello’s Polychromed Sculpture: Case Studies in Materials and Meaning at the Courtauld in 2010 and was subsequently appointed Andrew W Mellon Research Forum Postdoctoral Fellow for 2011. During the course of his research he undertook the first technical examination of Donatello’s Entombment relief from the High Altar of the Santo in Padua, investigating samples of its polychromy in order to reconstruct the physical history of its surface. The stratigraphic analysis of the polychromy revealed a series of campaigns of repair and repainting which provided material evidence explaining differences between the descriptions of the relief published over the course of its lifetime, and connecting its changing surface to the documented history of its movement, damage and restoration.
As the Caroline Villers Research Fellow for 2011-12, Jim will be applying this methodology to a body of sculpture surviving from one of the most turbulent periods of English history, the Long Reformation, from the Elizabethan settlement through the Laudian controversies of the reign of Charles I to the Puritan revolution and the Commonwealth, The churches of St Olave Hart Street, in the City of London and St Margaret’s, Westminster each contain remarkable groups of tomb sculptures, representing very different constituencies. St Olave’s tombs commemorate members of London’s commercial bourgeoisie, while those in St Margaret’s represent members of the court and the political classes. Although a great deal of documentary research has been undertaken concerning church interiors of this period, little physical evidence has been brought to bear on their investigation except in relation to the loss and destruction of their sculptural content. This project will seek to determine whether these tombs were altered, repaired or simply left alone in an age of radically shifting theological, liturgical and aesthetic priorities.
Bust of Peter Turner, polychromed alabaster, 1614; St Olave, Hart Street, London. Photograph © Jim Harris, 2011
By analysing samples of original, repainted and residual polychromy on objects known to have remained in St Olave throughout the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Jim hopes to shed light on the treatment of coloured and gilded sculpture at a time when it was falling from favour artistically, and in a climate of mounting opposition to certain kinds of display and ostentation. In addition, the project will gather evidence on the material history of the church through later periods, including the Great Fire of London and its restoration following the Blitz of 1940. It is also proposed that the study include a number of coeval monuments at St Margaret's and discussions are currently underway with the authorities at Westminster Abbey concerning the necessary permissions to carry out the work.
Over the course of his fellowship, Jim will be presenting his work in the Courtauld Research Forum and leading field trips to see the sculpture in situ. He also hopes to organise a conference on sculptural polychromy at the Courtauld in late 2012 or early 2013.
B.D. Nandadeva (Nanda) who is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka earned his PhD in Art Conservation Research from the University of Delaware, USA. He also holds a Graduate Diploma in Rock Art Conservation from the University of Canberra, Australia, an M.Sc. in Architectural Conservation of Monuments and Sites from the University of Moratuva, and a BA (Hons) in Fine Arts form the University of Ceylon, Sri Lanka. He has also spent two years attached to the University of Thessaloniki and the British School of Archaeology at Athens, undertaking an independent study on Greek and Byzantine art. In his doctoral dissertation, he characterized the materials and techniques of Buddhist temple paintings from Sri Lanka using a range of analytical techniques that include optical microscopy, x-ray diffraction using powder cameras, FTIR, SEM, EDX, and TLC. The analytical results were used to compare the technological similarities and differences between three stylistically distinct schools of Buddhist temple paintings from three different geo-political regions of colonial Ceylon. He has also published or presented papers at international conferences on a variety of subjects related to Sri Lankan art and culture that include: rock art of a native hunter-gatherer community called the Vedda; a terracotta figurine art of rice-farming peasant communities of the dry-zone; rural earthen architectural traditions and techniques; Western influence on Buddhist temple paintings of colonial Ceylon; Ola-leaf manuscript cover paintings; the influence of war on contemporary art and artists; conservation issues in polychrome paintings on wood.
As the Caroline Villers Research Fellow, Nanda will characterize the materials and techniques of Buddhist temple paintings from the Southern and the Western maritime region (low-country) that was under the heavy influence of the Dutch and British colonial rule and are thought to have been executed by painters who belonged to the ‘exorcist-astrologer’ caste of the ‘low-country’, a low cast that remained outside the traditional painters’ caste. He will examine the hypothesis that the low-country non-traditional painters of the ‘exorcist-astrologer’ caste who were ignorant of the traditional Sinhalese painting technology of the ‘up-country’ borrowed painting materials and techniques from the Europeans, and also introduced the materials and techniques that they used in exorcist rituals with which they were familiar. He will characterize samples of paint, priming, and ground layers collected from temple wall paintings from Sri Lanka, using techniques such as optical microscopy, x-ray diffraction using powder cameras, FTIR, SEM, EDX etc. He expects to disseminate the outcomes of his study through presentations to the Courtauld Research Forum and at international conferences, and through publications.
Previous Caroline Villers Research Fellows and descriptions
of their projects