Susan Smelt is a junior paintings conservator at the Rijksmuseum. She graduated in 2012 from the University of Amsterdam with an MA and Professional Doctorate in Conservation and Restoration of Paintings. During the two-year postinitial phase she worked at the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg (SRAL) and the Mauritshuis in The Hague. She also holds BA and MA degrees in Art History from the University of Groningen. After graduation, Susan participated in different conservation and restoration projects, some of which were carried out at the Mauritshuis. There she was involved in the study and restoration of paintings belonging to the eighteenth-century ‘Golden Room’ by G.A. Pellegrini. She also participated in the examination, treatment and exhibition of Saul and David by Rembrandt. Beginning in 2014 she worked at the Rijksmuseum on the Paint Sample Database, where she developed a database in which all of the paint sample research will be digitalized. A user-friendly system was developed to gain color accurate photographs of cross-sections. At the moment Susan is engaged there in the research and conservation of the portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit painted by Rembrandt.