Rembrandt van Rijn A Nude Woman with a Snake, c. 1637

Rembrandt was one of the greatest draftmen in the history of art. Because he usually regarded his drawings the way a novelist regards the ideas he jots down in his journal-as a purely private record of observations and feelings-they are often deceotive simple. Yet the very spontaneity and the economy with which Rebrandt sketched his impressions make them dazzling to connoisseurs. His productuction of drawings was as prolific as it was brilliant. About 1,400 attributed to him survive, and probably at least an equal number have been lost. The reasons for the loss, aside from fire, flood and negligence, may be divined from the drawings that remain. Rembrandt made relatively few prepartory studies for his paintings and even fewer highly finished "presentation" drawings -gifts for friends and admirers. Usually his drawings were unrelated to his major works and were, moreover, unsigned; only about 25 that bear his signature are known. Thus it is likely that inexperienced collectors, misled by the simplicity of the drawings and ignorant of their authorship, discarder them. Experts estimate the dates of Rembrandt's drawings by studying his style and the way he used his favorite media: red and black chalk, ink and quill or reed pen, brush and washes.