The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has received a rare 17th-century drawing book containing 30 fully intact drawings.
The artworks were preserved in pristine condition because they were barely exposed to light over the centuries.
Part of the collection was made by the Frisian painter Rombout Uylenburgh, an artist whose broader body of work remains largely unknown.
A forgotten court painter
The gifted book features full-page sheets depicting Biblical scenes, with several drawn on blue paper using blue ink.
Born in Friesland around 1580, Uylenburgh worked as a court painter for King Sigismund III in Poland and later established a career in Danzig.
Following his death in 1627 or 1628, Uylenburgh was largely forgotten, even as his family became prominent in the art world.
His brother Hendrick moved to Amsterdam around 1625 and became the art dealer of Rembrandt van Rijn, who later married Uylenburgh’s niece Saskia.
Centuries in an Amsterdam collection
Known as the Van Eeghen Drawing Book, the volume was owned for 300 years by the influential Amsterdam merchant and banking family Van Eeghen.
The drawings have been publicly exhibited only once, in 1935.
About 20 years ago, owner C.P. van Eeghen linked a sheet in the book to a drawing by Uylenburgh already held by the Rijksmuseum, leading to a formal attribution published in 2013 by RKD curator Erik Löffler.
Further research planned
Rijksmuseum general director Taco Dibbits described the volume as a highlight of Dutch draughtsmanship.
The museum will use the donation to research Uylenburgh’s oeuvre and try to determine who created the remaining drawings in the book.
A museum spokesperson noted that it is possible the other artists in the collection may never be identified.
