Julie De Groot Guest professor - Projectmanager - Postdoctoral researcher

Research Julie De Groot

Research team

Expertise

My research expertise is situated within material culture studies, at the intersection of history, art history and heritage studies. My research deals with material culture in the late medieval and early modern period (with a focus on housing, interior and furniture) on the one hand, and the biography of objects within a museum context and the interaction between visitors, curators and these objects on the other. I currently teach 2 courses within Conservation, Restoration and Heritage Studies: 'Project Management of Movable and Intangible Heritage' and 'Historical Interiors, Styles and Furniture'. In addition, I am involved in numerous heritage projects and research projects, always on the topics of palaeography, material culture, museology and design history.

UNMASC: UNcovering Materials, ArtisanS, and Consumer networks of lacquer scagliola objects in 17th-century Antwerp. 01/01/2026 - 31/12/2029

Abstract

This project explores lacquer scagliola, a largely forgotten lacquer technique developed and used uniquely in 17th-century Antwerp for decorating high-end furniture. Although scarcely studied, our preliminary research has revealed a substantial body of surviving objects and archival materials awaiting systematic analysis. The project's innovative strength lies in its integrated methodology. By combining material-technical analysis (of pigments, binders, and application techniques) with stylistic classification and historical network analysis, we aim to reconstruct and unmask relations between the production, trade, and consumption of objects decorated with lacquer scagliola. Hence, using state-of-the-art scientific tools alongside archival research and social network mapping, we will identify its material composition and contextualise the relationships between lacquer scagliola objects and their specific makers, merchants, and patrons. This cross-disciplinary approach not only unmasks a neglected artistic practice and unique decorative technique, but also demonstrates how this innovative combination of scientific and historical data can open new perspectives in the study of early modern material culture. ?

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  • Research Project

Creating a Domestic City? The Production and Consumption of Domestic Space in Late Medieval Bruges, Dijon and Antwerp, 1450- 1600. 01/10/2015 - 30/09/2017

Abstract

The main objective of this project is to look beyond the public appearance of men and women in late-medieval cities. While the past two decades historical interest in the 'public' urban spaces has figured high on the research agenda, scholars have refrained from interrogating the complex ways people appropriated and arranged their own domestic space. Hence, there is an urgent need to define and redefine the ways in which city dwellers shaped their home, an entity that needs to be approached as both physical and ideological in essence (Lefebvre 1974).

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  • Research Project

The domestic city. The organization and decoration of domestic space in fifteenth-and sixteenth- century Antwerp, Bruges and Dijon. 01/10/2013 - 30/09/2015

Abstract

The main objective of this project is to look beyond the public appearance of men and women in late-medieval cities. While the past two decades historical interest in the 'public' urban spaces has figured high on the research agenda, scholars have refrained from interrogating the complex ways people appropriated and arranged their own domestic space. Hence, there is an urgent need to define and redefine the ways in which city dwellers shaped their home, an entity that needs to be approached as both physical and ideological in essence (Lefebvre 1974).

Researcher(s)

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  • Research Project

At Home in Sixteenth-Century Flanders. Materiality and Domesticity in the City (1450-1650). 01/10/2012 - 30/09/2013

Abstract

The main objective of this project is to look beyond studies that treat citizens as members of the public urban community (e.g. Nicholas 1985; Stabel and Boone 2000) without acknowledging the key role that may have been played by living patterns in their households.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project