Being asked to be a paranymph, what an honour that is. Corrie van Maris’s PhD defence takes place right in the heart of 450 years of Leiden University history. In the Senate Chamber of the Academy Building, Huizinga gazes approvingly from among the portraits of professors, witnessing Van Maris confidently defend her dissertation on the four famous Woudanus prints. Technically, it’s a series of three: the anatomical theatre, the library, and the botanical garden, the fencing school was added later. That distinction requires the eye of an artist. And Van Maris has that eye. She earned her PhD while working as curator at the Academic Historical Museum — a dual PhD track. Truly hors catégorie.
