FWO Senior Research Project

Vincent Cattersel - University of Antwerp

We are thrilled and incredibly proud to announce that Vincent Cattersel has been awarded an FWO Senior Research Project, titled: "UNMASC – UNcovering Materials, ArtisanS, and Consumer networks of lacquer scagliola objects in 17th-century Antwerp". As a satellite project of his ongoing Belspo - Belgian Science Policy Office FED-tWIN HOME-AGE project, UNMASC will study a rare and understudied decorative European lacquer technique found on mid-17th-century Antwerp luxury furniture, which they coined "lacquer scagliola".

By integrating material-technical analysis with historical and art-historical research, the project aims to trace the origins of this technique, reconstruct its production processes, and map the artisanal and consumption networks that shaped its creation and dissemination.

Starting in 2026, a PhD researcher will work on unmasking the various contextual layers of "lacquer scagliola" under the supervision of Julie De Groot and Vincent Cattersel, with co-supervision from Andrea Marchetti (Antwerp Cultural Heritage Sciences), Emile van Binnebeke (Art & History Museum Brussels) and Louise Decq (Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium - KIK).

Image: Detail of lacquer scagliola decoration on a mid-17th-century Antwerp cabinet. Collection of Mou Museum Oudenaarde(Belgium), inv. no. 01288.