A selection of 85 Flemish drawings gives an astonishing and representative overview of the art of drawing in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The publication focusses on the drawings subjects and compositions but also on how and why they were created and why an artist chose specific materials, techniques, formats and even sizes. It provides a framework to allow to see drawings in the functional context for which they were created.

Renowned specialists in Flemish drawing discuss rare artworks by famous draughtsmen as Frans Floris, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck, Jacques Jordaens, Otto van Veen, Jan Fijt but also hidden treasures such as the 10 metres long Panorama of Zeeland by Antoon van den Wijngaerde, a sketchbook of the 12-year-old Rubens, recently discovered drawings by Hans Vredeman de Vries, the extremely rare Italy-sketchbooks by the sculptor Pieter Verbruggen and a newly discovered book-illustration design by Rubens for the Plantin Press.

Virginie D’haene: Curator Prints and Drawings, Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerp. An Van Camp: Christopher Brown Curator of Northern European Art, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Ilona van Tuinen: Head of Printroom, Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Sarah Van Ooteghem: Curator of Modern Drawings, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels. Saskia van Altena: Junior Curator Drawings and Prints, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.