Artists' Collections in the Early Modern Netherlands

In this paper I propose that the collections of artists and artisans in the Early Modern Netherlands became sources of artisanal and scientific knowledge as well as artistic innovation. In recent years a lot of literature is published on the culture of collecting in relation to artistic and scientific developments in Early Modern Europe. Most existing research focuses either on art collections in relation to the art market and connoisseurship or on the role of scholarly collections in relation to global trade networks and new scientific knowledge. Specific research on the collections of artists (e.g. painters, goldsmiths, mirror makers) is strikingly absent (except from some research on the collections of Rubens and Rembrandt), while sources are abundant. Focusing on the collections of artists can add new insights to the existing ideas on the tradition of collecting in relation to artistic and scientific developments, as well as in relation to trade markets and material culture