Niels Weijenberg awarded Turing Scheme placement at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam

Niels Weijenberg has been awarded funding from the Turing Scheme for a placement at the Allard Pierson Museum, the Special Collections of the Amsterdam University Library.

Since September 2021, Niels is PhD student in Art History and Visual Studies at the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, focussing on early modern Netherlandish art. His research is about the visual culture inspired by the scholarly quest for the universal language, which is described in the Old Testament of the Bible. This visual culture includes among other things hieroglyphics, calligraphy, and depictions of the Tower of Babel. Staying in Amsterdam for three months, Niels will examine the collection of printed virtuoso handwriting manuals preserved in the Allard Pierson Museum, and collaborate with its curator on his current research on printed title pages. These manuals being rare in number, the rich early modern Netherlandish calligraphy collection of the museum is unique in its kind.

The Turing Scheme is the UK government's global programme for studying and working abroad, providing students in the UK with funding to support international education opportunities across the world. A placement can run for a minimum of four weeks, up to a maximum of four months. The aim of the placement is to add value to the applicant’s existing doctoral programme through exposure to a different research environment and access to complementary facilities and expertise.