Prints, Drawings and Portraits

The collection Prints, Drawings and Portraits comprises over 100,000 prints, 12,000 drawings and 30,000 portraits.

Traditionally, prints and drawings are often collected together.  There exist many parallels between both media. The collections in Leiden range from 1500 until the present day. They are the result of a number of large donations to the university, next to purchases of larger and smaller collections.

The prints represent all the major European schools while the drawings are mostly Dutch by origin. Current acquisitions reflect contemporary drawing and printmaking in the Netherlands. Part of the collections of prints and drawings are large numbers of portraits.

Access

Prints, drawings, and collection guides can be accessed through the Catalogue. While our drawings have been digitised almost completely, this is not yet the case with the prints, including portrait prints. Digitisation is an ongoing process, and more images will be added in the years to come. The digital reproductions can be accessed in Digital Collections. On the webpage Exhibitions, you will find several online exhibitions of the prints and drawings in our collection. For more information, consult the separate subject guides for prints, drawings, and portraits.