Matthieu Lett

Matthieu Lett, who obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Lausanne and the University Paris Nanterre in 2019, is an associate professor of early modern art history and head of the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Burgundy (Dijon, France). Specializing in artistic production in European princely courts during the 17th and 18th centuries, he recently published a monograph on the painter René-Antoine Houasse (Paris, Arthena, 2020) and his thesis on great staircases in European princely buildings from the 1670s to the 1760s (Geneva, Droz, 2023). His forthcoming book focuses on Hyacinthe Rigaud’s portrait of Louis XIV in coronation robes and its process of iconization from material, visual, and cultural perspectives. Additionally, his current research explores the practices and uses of miniature painting in European courts of the long 17th century, with a comparative perspective on the Islamic world. He is also a member of the ANR/DFG project “PLAFOND-3D: A Connected History of Painted Ceilings: France-Germany, 1600-1800” (2022-2025). Furthermore, he is interested in the epistemological challenges of digital humanities in art history, particularly in the fields of 3D and virtual reality.