Master of Arts

Art History

Faculty of Humanities

Leiden University. The university to discover.

Art History

Degree MA in Art History

Type of Programme Full-time / Part-time

Duration 1 year / 1.5 years

Start Date September, February

Language English

Entry Requirements BA degree in Art History or a

closely related discipline from
an accredited university.
For detailed entry requirements
see www.mastersinleiden.nl

Admission Graduates with a bachelor’s degree

that is not in Art History from
Leiden University need to apply
for admission. Students with
Dutch nationality and a Dutch
bachelor’s degree can file their
application form at the Student
Information Centre in Plexus.
International students and/or
students with an international
diploma should contact the
International Office.
Application forms can be obtained
from www.mastersinleiden.nl
International students can apply
online.

master of arts
4 Reasons to Choose Art History in Leiden

1 This MA programme is unique 2 The university is connected to

in that it studies a substantial
body of works of art, buildings
and material culture from the
early Middle Ages until the
present day, and that these fields
of specialisation are approached
from a comparative perspective.
The programme aims at an
in-depth knowledge of relevant
cultural contexts, of the re­­
sponse to art, architecture and
design, and the concepts and
competences used in these, as
well as of intellectual ideas,
literature, and social norms
and values.
and located near a network of
major institutes and collections,
providing our students with
access to important primary
sources which are used to inves-
tigate the broader relationship
between art, material culture
and intellectual history. These
institutes include: the National
Museum of Ethnology; the
Natural History Museum; the
Museum for the History of
Science; the National Museum
of Antiquities; the Leiden
University Library Special Col-
lections; Stedelijk Museum de
Lakenhal/Scheltema, location
for contemporary art.

3 Art history in Leiden studies

the visual arts (including
photography and new develop­
ments such as the relationship
between art and science) as
well as architecture and the
urban environment, decorative
arts and domestic culture,
both past and present, and
their inter­relationships.

4 Students in the History of Art

and Material Culture of East
Asia and of South and South-
east Asia specialisation have
access to unique collections in
Leiden of Chinese and Japanese
objects of art and material cul-
ture, as well as other artefacts
and primary (textual) sources.

mastersinleiden.nl
Programme

At Leiden University, art history is understood in a broad sense - as

the study of art objects, buildings and material culture, including their
production and reception, in their historical context.
This one-year programme offers students an overview of the specific
areas of scholarly expertise of the art history department. The objec-
tive is to provide exposure to a variety of works of art and material
culture and methods of research as a basis for mentored independent
study within one of six fields.

Career Prospects

The MA programme in Art History prepares students for a career in a

variety of professional fields, such as museums, galleries, (art) libraries
or archives, publishing companies and other media industries, as well
as administrative positions in the cultural public domain.
Anyone with a master’s degree can, in principle, apply for a PhD track.
However, students with a particular interest in an academic career are
advised to choose a research master’s programme, since these pro­
gram­­­­­­­­mes explicitly prepare students for research at PhD level.

On completion of the Master’s Programme in Art History, students

can follow a teacher education programme at the ICLON Graduate
School of Education, which leads to an upper secondary teaching
qualification in Art History. More information can be found at
www.iclon.leidenuniv.nl

master of arts
Prof. Kitty Zijlmans

“For us, the close

relationship between
art, science and
material culture is
key to the study of
art history.”

“We teach students to take a fresh approach to art and to ask them-
selves: What is our own concept of art? We can’t just apply our
Western concept of art to works from other parts of the world,
which is what we have been doing for centuries. International art
history doesn’t just consist of European and American art.
The basic principle of World Art Studies is that art history is an
approach to art from across the world. We, therefore, take a global
and comparative perspective. For example, we compare Western art
with that of Asia. This ‘global’ aspect is a must in the world of today
with its enormous wealth of art production. Moreover, students also
want to know how Western art relates to other art traditions.
Also, science plays an important role in our master’s programme.
In the present-day, very changeable world of art, there is room for
many new forms and concepts. Artists, for example, raise such issues
as the extent to which man can be moulded, and they make us look
differently at political and ethical questions. What does art say about
the times we live in?
We also incorporate into the master’s unique museum collections
in Leiden, from Naturalis and Stedelijk Museum de Lakenhal, to the
University Library with its special collections. For us, the close rela-
tionship between art, science and material culture is key to the study
of art history. We are constantly making cross-overs.”

mastersinleiden.nl
Specialisations
The specialisations are centred
around four professorships of Art
History and two additional fields
of expertise.
1. History and Theory of Modern
and Contemporary Art
This specialisation covers modern
and contemporary art, photogra-
phy, new media art, sci-art, and
their many cross-overs, reflecting
the changes of modern society,
the blurring borders between art,
science and popular culture, the
advancing embrace of technology
and the manifold processes of glo-
balisation. The focus is on inter-
master of arts
medialisation and inter-culturali-
sation, and on the theory and
methods of present-day art his-
tory. Also, collaboration with
artists is aimed for.
2. A rt and Visual Culture of the
Late Middle Ages and Early
Modern Period.
This specialisation focuses on
three interrelated themes crucial
to the study of Renaissance art in
northern and southern Europe:
early Renaissance art and devo­-
tio­n­al imagination; iconoclasm
and the reformation of the image;
Renaissance institutions of art,
the emergence of new genres.
A key theme here is the role of
visual arts in Early Modern
identity formation.
3. History and Theory of
Architecture
This specialisation focuses on:
architecture in the early modern
period; 20th century architecture;
global developments in architec-
ture in a comparative perspective;
and architectural theory.
Key issues include: Renaissance
and Baroque art in Italy; reception
and use, cultural heritage and
conservation; interaction of design,
theory, reception and the writing
of architectural history; global
and multicultural perspectives
on contemporary architecture.

4. History of Decorative Arts,

Industrial Design and the
Domestic Interior
This specialisation entails issues
of design, techniques of produc-
tion, individual material objects,
aesthetics and function. Emphasis
is given to questions of the
desig­ner/producer relationship,
production processes and market
mechanisms, and the transition
from traditional to mass
production.

5. History and Theory of

Collections
Museums and collections today
are in a state of flux. Their social
functions are mutating rapidly
under social, political and eco-
nomic pressures. Traditional roles
of curator, educator and adminis-
trator are blurring. Globalism has
resulted in an increasing urgency
to deal with issues of cultural pat-
rimony and its political, legal and
museological aspects. Corpora-
tions have become major collec-
tors of art and cultural materials
independent of the established
museums and university infra-
structure. In this specialisation,
these issues are studied in the con-
text of the history and theory of
collections and the cultural poli-
tics of museums and heritage.
6. History of Art and Material
Culture of East Asia, and of
South and Southeast Asia
The focus within this specialisa-
tion is on art and the material
culture of Asia, more specifically
on (a) the study of Chinese, Japa-
nese and Korean art, crafts, and
architecture as a means to gain
insight into intellectual, econo­mic
and cultural aspects of society, or
(b) on the interrelationships and
regional diversity in the visual
arts, architecture and material
culture of India and Indonesia.
The focus is on Hindu and Bud-
dhist art from this larger ‘Sanskrit
cosmopolis’. Students have access
to unique collections of art and
material culture, primary sources
in the university library and
museums in Leiden.

mastersinleiden.nl
 More Information

For more information on the master’s

programme and the specialisations, courses,
structure, admission requirements, appli­
cation procedures and tuition fees, please
check our website: www.mastersinleiden.nl

For academic information on course content

Co-ordinator of Studies
G.J. Nauta MA
+ 31 (0)71 527 27 45
stucokg@hum.leidenuniv.nl

For general and application information

Student Information Centre (Dutch students)
Kaiserstraat 25
P.O. Box 439
2300 AK Leiden
The Netherlands
+ 31 (0)71 527 80 11
informatiecentrum@leidenuniv.nl

International Office (international students)

P.O. Box 9500
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands
+ 31 (0)71 527 72 87
study@io.leidenuniv.nl

Although this brochure has been compiled with the

utmost care, Leiden University accepts no liability for
any consequences arising from errors contained therein.

mastersinleiden.nl