The old city wall, the Dom Church, city life: what did Utrecht actually look like hundreds of years ago? This and more can be discovered from 14 October in the exhibition The drawn city. Utrecht in Old Drawings 1550-1900 (De Getekende Stad. Utrecht in oude tekeningen 1550-1900) in The Utrecht Archives (Het Utrechts Archief – Hamburgerstraat).

The city archives hold an outstanding collection of drawings from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They were made by famous masters such as Saenredam, Van Goyen and Saftleven. Two drawings made by the brothers Herman Saftleven and Cornelis Saftleven were recently acquired by Het Utrechts Archief and are now part of this exhibition.

In order to show as many drawings as possible, a new selection will be put on display every two months:

October – December 2023: drawings from the 17th century
January – February 2024: drawings from the 18th century
March – May 2024: drawings from the 19th century

The exhibition is a unique opportunity to see these fragile works, which are almost never on public display.