European sculpture

This online catalogue includes every work of European sculpture in the Rijksmuseum’s art collection. The most recent published catalogue of sculpture dates from 1973. Prompting a thorough update of this valuable, but by now outdated reference work was the ever-growing body of art historical research and the long list of acquisitions made in recent decades.

The Rijksmuseum (and its precursors: the Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden and later the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst) began acquiring sculpture on a systematic basis only in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Additions to the collection prior to this time are few in number. One early example is the Dutch government’s purchase of Artus Quellinus’s magnificent marble bust portrait of Andries de Graeff in 1817.

Initially, the museum’s sculpture acquisition policy was chiefly oriented to works of national interest. It was not until the twentieth century that this focus gradually begin to shift, largely thanks to the efforts of Adriaan Pit (museum director from 1898 to 1917) and Jaap Leeuwenberg (curator of sculpture from 1948 to 1969 and compiler of the 1973 catalogue), who sought to actively acquire international works. As a result, sculptures of non-Netherlandish origin today make up approximately half of the collection. This international scope received an additional impulse when, in 1952, the Dutch government charged the Rijksmuseum with the care of Italian and German works formerly in the possession of Fritz Mannheimer and recuperated from Germany after the Second World War. This enhancement of the collection has since served to stimulate the museum’s policy of acquiring international works.

An outstanding and higly diverse collection

Most complete and best represented in the Rijksmuseum’s collection is medieval sculpture from the Low Countries, with major highlights being works by the Master of Hakendover, the Master of Koudewater, Adriaen van Wesel, Meester Arnt van Zwolle, Jan Borman and Renier van Thienen. International masterpieces from this period are also present, with works by Hans Kamensetzer, Tilman Riemenschneider, Francesco di Valdambrino and others. Of surprisingly high quality are the bronze sculptures originating from Italy and north-western Europe, together forming an important subcollection. Another rich ensemble comprises works by Netherlandish sculptors who established their careers in Italy during the sixteenth century, the so-called fiamminghi: Willem van Tetrode, Johan Gregor van der Schardt, Adriaen de Vries and their contemporaries. Equally remarkable are seminal works by Dutch and Flemish sculptors of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including influential masters such as Hendrick de Keyser, François du Quesnoy, Artus Quellinus, Rombout Verhulst, Francis van Bossuit, Mattheus van Beveren, Jan Pieter van Baurscheit, Jan Baptist Xavery, Louis Royer and Frans Stracké. Works by renowned international sculptors are also amply represented, such as Andrea del Verrocchio, Pietro Torrigiani, Bartolomeo Ammannati, Giovanni Caccini, Etienne-Maurice Falconet, Jean-Antoine Houdon, Francesco Righetti, Lorenzo Bartolini and Pietro Magni. Lastly, the museum has broadened its holdings to include modern and contemporary sculpture in recent years, among them important pieces by influential Dutch post-war sculptors such as Shinkichi Tajiri and Carel Visser.

In the coming months and years, systematic catalogue entries for every work in the collection will appear on the museum’s website, often accompanied by multiple views in high resolution. Netherlandish sculpture, from the Middle Ages to successive periods, forms the starting point. International sculpture will follow thereafter, likewise presented chronologically by region and country. In its final form, the catalogue will comprise over 1100 comprehensive entries, reflecting the full extent of in-depth art historical research and a wealth of surprising new insights.