Activity calendar

A Peek at Potter

A symposium about Potter’s Stier

30 Jan 2026, 10:00 - 17:00
Het Mauritshuis

The Mauritshuis is organising a symposium to celebrate the recent public conservation and restoration of The Bull (De stier, 1647), which was part of A Peek at Potter – Investigating the Bull. The symposium also marks the end of the ‘Potter year’: 400 years since the birth of the artist Paulus Potter (1625-1654). This huge canvas depicting farm animals in a Dutch landscape was once the museum’s most famous painting. The symposium will take place on Friday 30 January at the Mauritshuis, and will be held in English.

The speed-presentations will cover a wide variety of topics: the restoration treatment of The Bull, its turbulent history, cows in the 17th century and technology nowadays, clouds and weather, and the challenges of carrying out restorations in front of the public. 

Ticket sales will start soon.

Provisional Programme

10:00 - 10:30  Registration (with coffee and tea)

10:30 - 10:35  Welcome by Judith Niessen, Head of Collections, Mauritshuis,  (Moderator)

10:35 - 10:55 Keynote: Bull’s eye: A personal view on Potter and his bull by Dr. Edwin Buijsen, Head of the Cultural Heritage Laboratory, Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE)

10:55 - 11:05 Unbullievable cowlaborations during the technical examination and restoration by Dr. Abbie Vandivere, Paintings Conservator, Mauritshuis & Jolijn Schilder, Paintings Conservator, Mauritshuis

11:05 - 11:25 Bull on the loose!? Potter’s Bull in the Amsterdam Nieuwendijk by Prof. dr. Frans Grijzenhout, Professor Emeritus in Art History, University of Amsterdam 

11:25 - 11:40 Q&A  

11:40 - 11:55 Mauritshuis from 1822 onwards by Quentin Buvelot, Head Curator, Mauritshuis 

11:55 - 12:15 'Cowlossal canvases: Potter’s large paintings' by Dr. Abbie Vandivere, Paintings Conservator, Mauritshuis & Jolijn Schilder, Paintings Conservator, Mauritshuis 

12:15 - 12:25 Q&A 

12:25 – 13:25 LUNCH

13.30 - 13.40 Sky-high expectations: what new technologies can tell us about The Bull by Annelies van Loon, Paintings Research Scientist, Rijksmuseum & Mauritshuis 

13:40 - 13:50 Where the bull snorts, the clouds listen by Dr. Rob Sluijter, Forensic Meteorologist, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute ( KNMI)

13:50 - 14:00 Q&A 

14:00 - 14:25 Cow-servation history by Dr. Abbie Vandivere, Paintings Conservator, Mauritshuis & Jolijn Schilder, Paintings Conservator, Mauritshuis 

14:25 - 14:50 Re-stier-ation: The 2024-2025 treatment by Team Stier  

14:50 - 15:00 Q&A 

15:00 – 15:20 Coffee Break  

15:25 - 15:35 Déjà Moo: Repetition and recomposition in Paulus Potter's small-scale paintings by Ige Verslype, Paintings Conservator, Rijksmuseum 

15:35 - 15:50 No Bull: Reconstructing Potter’s lost Abduction of Europa by Muirne Lydon, Senior Paintings Conservator, National Gallery of Ireland & Dr. Natalia Macro, Senior Research Scientist, National Gallery of Ireland 

15:50 - 16:00 The true type by Dr. Victor Muñoz Sanz, Assistant Professor of Urban Design, TU Delft 

16:00 - 16:10 This Charming Bull by Derrick Guild, Artist and Lecturer, Royal Scottish Academy (RSA)

16:10 - 16:20 The Bull and the public by Lieve Boiten, Project leader and Coordinator Museum Guides, Mauritshuis 

16:20 - 16:30 From stall to studio by Dr. Abbie Vandivere, Paintings Conservator, Mauritshuis & Jolijn Schilder, Paintings Conservator, Mauritshuis 

16:30 - 16:45 Q&A 

16:45 – 16:55  Wrap-up by Judith Niessen, Head of Collections , Mauritshuis , (Moderator)

16:55  - 18:00 DRINKS 

About The Bull

Would you like to learn about everything there is to know about the restoration process? For example, why exactly does it need to be restored? And where was it painted? Then quickly browse through our latest Art Story, featuring exciting ins and outs about the world-famous Bull. 

Check out the Art Story

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Made possible by a bequest from Mrs. A.D. Bonebakker-van Enter, an anonymous donation, the Debman Foundation and Stichting Retourschip.

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