Rijksmuseum Receives Rare Book of 17th-Century Drawings

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has received a rare book of drawings dating from the 17th century, adding a centuries-old work on paper to its holdings.

Few details about the donation — including the donor's identity and the book's precise contents — have been made public beyond the museum's acknowledgment of the acquisition, according to ARTnews.

A bound book of drawings from the 1600s is an unusual survival. Paper degrades; albums get broken up and sold sheet by sheet. When one arrives intact, with its original sequence of images preserved, it gives researchers a chance to study not just individual works but the order in which an artist or collector arranged them — a kind of curated journey through someone's eye, four centuries old.

The Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands' national museum, holds the country's largest collection of Dutch art and history, from Rembrandt's The Night Watch to medieval artefacts. Its works-on-paper department is among the most active in Europe, regularly acquiring prints, drawings and illustrated books.

For visitors, the acquisition means another piece of the 17th-century Dutch world — the era when the Netherlands was a global mercantile power and its artists were producing some of the most sought-after work in Europe — will eventually be available for public viewing. The museum has not yet announced display dates.