Katharine J. Waldron

My doctoral project focuses on the materials and techniques of English medieval painting, and explores how previously collected technical data can be harnessed to address questions about culture and society in medieval Britain. My research draws on the archive of paint samples housed at the Hamilton Kerr Institute (HKI), the paintings conservation department of the Fitzwilliam Museum (University of Cambridge). The study of paint samples in cross-section, often conducted in tandem with conservation treatments, can yield information on the pigments, binding media, and layer structures of paintings. This technical data can lead to extraordinary insights when integrated into broader historical enquiries. For example, uses of certain materials can reflect workshop organisation or patterns of trade. I am particularly interested in examining art across different genres, media and contexts, and I am excited to draw on the research communities and the expertise of conservators and heritage professionals in both Oxford and Cambridge. 

My DPhil is supervised by Professor Gervase Rosser (University of Oxford) and Dr Lucy Wrapson (HKI), with additional supervisory support from Dr Spike Bucklow (HKI). I am a member of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where my DPhil is generously supported by a Cowley Scholarship in association with an OOC-AHRC-DTP Scholarship, and the Clarendon Fund. I completed a BA in History of Art at the University of Warwick and a Postgraduate Diploma (now an MA) in the Conservation of Easel Paintings from The Courtauld Institute of Art, followed by a two-year paintings conservation internship at the Hamilton Kerr Institute.