“Exceptional” 17th-century sketchbook donated to Rijksmuseum

A rare 17th-century sketchbook, containing 30 drawings, has been gifted to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The collection is known as the Van Eeghen sketchbook, named after the Amsterdam merchant family who owned it for three centuries. The sketches, some made on blue paper, have retained their color due to the sketchbook remaining untouched.

The Rijksmuseum emphasized the rarity of an intact 17th-century artist's sketchbook, as they often get torn out and sold individually or lost. When the sketchbook resurfaced in 1935, only two sketches and a few paintings by Uylenburgh were known to have survived. The sketches were only attributed to Uylenburgh in 2013, after the owner noticed their similarity to one of his paintings in the Rijksmuseum's collection.

Uylenburgh, born in Friesland in 1580, spent most of his life in Poland after his family moved to Krakow. He became the court painter of King Sigismund III Vasa and amassed a successful career in the port city of Danzig. His brother, Hendrik, returned to the Dutch Republic and worked in Amsterdam as Rembrandt's main art dealer. Hendrik is believed to have introduced Rembrandt to his cousin, Saskia van Uylenburgh, who became Rembrandt's wife in 1633.

The Van Eeghen sketchbook is currently the focus of a special exhibition at the Rijksmuseum from August 19 until November 29.