The Rijksmuseum acquired an extremely rare drawing by Rembrandt’s teacher, Pieter Lastman, at the ‘Old Masters’ auction at Christie’s in London. A view of the ruins on the Forum of Nerva in Rome, this pen and brown ink drawing was produced in 1606, which was also the year that Rembrandt was born. Lastman worked briefly in Italy, but almost nothing remains from that period. The Rijksmuseum was able to purchase the drawing thanks to funding from the BankGiro Loterij, the Dutch lottery that provides funds for culture.

Jane Turner, Head of the Print Room: ‘We are very pleased that we were able to acquire this exceptional drawing for the Rijksmuseum after stiff competition. The drawing was discovered by the former Head of the Print Room, Peter Schatborn, and is one of the only two Italian landscape drawings by Lastman that are known to exist’.