BOSTON, MASS.- This September marks the beginning of the first full academic year for the Center for Netherlandish Art, an innovative research center for the study and appreciation of Dutch and Flemish art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). Through an expansive library and an active slate of academic and public programs, the CNA shares Dutch and Flemish art with wide audiences in Boston and beyond; stimulates multidisciplinary research and object-based learning; nurtures future generations of scholars and curators in the field; and expands public appreciation of Netherlandish art—especially works from the 17th century.

The CNA is centrally located within the MFA on the ground floor, where it serves as a hub of activities connected to the Museum’s state-of-the-art Conservation Center and public programs. The new research center, library and recently renovated galleries of Dutch and Flemish art are highlighted in a newly released video commissioned by the Press and Cultural Department of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York.

This fall, the CNA is welcoming its inaugural cohort of research fellows, who will spend the academic year in residence at the center and shed new light on the MFA's rich holdings of Dutch and Flemish art:

• Emily Hirsch, Flanders State of the Art Fellow | Hirsch's research centers on early modern Flemish sculpture. In the early stages of her doctoral trajectory at Brown University, Hirsch is completing her dissertation proposal as part of her fellowship, and beginning her dissertation writing while making use of the CNA’s and MFA’s resources.

• Braden Lee Scott, Research Fellow | Scott is a doctoral candidate at McGill University in his sixth year of the doctoral program in Art History, where he works on the reception of ancient architecture in Renaissance Europe. At the CNA, Scott is analyzing Peter Paul Rubens’ portrait of Mulay Ahmad as an archeological painting that rhetorically excavates landscape and empire.

• Aagje Lybeer, Research Fellow | Currently in the third year of the joint doctoral program at the University of St. Andrews and Ghent University, Lybeer focuses her research on male body postures in 17th-century Dutch portrait paintings. Her research is interdisciplinary, connecting the fields of Art History, Communication Studies, Visual Studies, and Digital Humanities.

In addition to kicking off its fellowship program, the CNA will also host a robust slate of public and academic programs, taking place both in person and virtual. These include the CNA Student Sessions, which connect students with various experts in Netherlandish art and history, allowing them to engage in conversation about the field in an informal setting. The next session, on October 14, will be led by Carrie Anderson, a professor of Art and Architectural History at Middlebury College in Vermont and co-leader of the digital art history project “From Batavia to the Gold Coast: Mapping Textile Circulation in the Dutch Global Market.”