Assisting Dating of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Drawings Using Watermark Matches: Digital Tools for Watermark Overlay Creation and an Image Searchable Watermark Library

This talk introduces a digital approach to address the long-standing desire of art historians to connect the analysis of Old Master drawings with the watermarks found in their laid paper supports. Use of digital tools for watermark identification, comparison, and dating is illustrated on drawings by Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Lievens, Claes Cornelisz. Moyaert, Philips Wouwerman, and other Dutch artists. The use of a new low-cost, rapid watermark imaging system (WImSy), co-designed and built by Paul Messier (Lens Media Lab, Yale University), is presented as the device making the collection of a comprehensive watermark library feasible.