Get to know the workshop secrets of Netherlandish masters. What is invisible to the eye? What have the artists hidden from us? What were drawings for? Do the overlapping lines of Bol’s Saul and the Witch of Endor enable us to guess in which order the figures were drawn? Was Molenaer’s vision of school meant to scare the viewers?

 

 

Drawings created by Netherlandish masters served various purposes. Often made for the master himself and for his narrow circle of assistants and pupils, they represented an intimate type of artistic expression. These works presented people, animals and landscapes, drawn both from life and imagination, as well as religious, mythological or genre scenes, forming a set of models for future use. It is also worth noting that drawings often served as designs for works of art: stained glass, tapestries, paintings, prints, and even goldsmithery. Each of the sketches presented at the exhibitions contains indications that reveal its original purpose.

 

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