What secrets are hidden in centuries-old drawings? How do you make these silent masterpieces speak? And how can you tell the difference between an original and a copy? These and other exciting questions will be answered in the winter of 2025/26 by the exhibition Expedition Drawing. For the first time, the Wallraf is presenting the astonishing results of four years of research, during which more than 900 drawings from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries were scrutinized under a microscope. With 70 of these works by masters such as Rembrandt, Rubens and Goltzius, the public can now travel through the fascinating world of Dutch draughtsmanship. Expedition Drawing tells the amazing stories behind the pictures, cuts paths through unexplored terrain and makes the discoveries of the intensive investigations visible to all. The special exhibition also presents the appropriate ‘equipment’ and asks about the right path: did the experts ever get lost, or do all paths lead to the goal?

Frans Snijders (1579-1657), Bird Concert, ca. 1630-1650, loan from private ownership, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Köln, Graphische Sammlung, © Photo: Thomas Klinke, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum