LONDON.- A new exhibition from the British Museum explores the transformative time when Netherlandish drawings emerged from the workshop to become an art form in their own right.

Early Netherlandish drawings brings together 110 works by renowned artists such as Rogier van der Weyden, Lucas van Leyden, Pieter Bruegel the elder and Hendrick Goltzius. Lesser-known masters, anonymous sheets and workshop copies have been included to offer a rich and comprehensive account of drawing across the region.

The British Museum's collection of pre-1600s Netherlandish drawings, totalling more than 1,200, is one of the most important in the world. Unlike Italy, where the taste for collecting drawings in the 1500s ensured that a higher number from previous centuries were preserved, early Netherlandish works on paper are much rarer. The unparalleled breadth and quality of the Museum's holdings in this field provide an opportunity to piece together this sometimes-fragmented narrative.

In the 1400s and 1500s, the Low Countries (present day Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) were a powerhouse of artistic innovation. Following a chronological narrative the show explores early workshop drawings through to highly finished compositions as independent works of art.

Displays examine the function of drawings in the workshop, and their role in the design and production of paintings, tapestries, painted glass, sculpture and prints. Thematic displays highlight new subjects that were introduced into Netherlandish drawings during this period, including landscapes, proverbs and a local iteration of the antique style, spurred by contact with Italy.

The selected works document the study of nature and the sensitive rendering of objects from life – both defining features of northern European art – as well as giving a unique insight into the working practices of early Netherlandish artists in the running of their studios and the training of their pupils.

Culminating from a five-year research project on selected works from the collection, supported by a grant from the International Music and Art Foundation, the exhibition will also present insights that have come from combining curatorial and conservation expertise along with scientific analysis.

New research reveals that drawings previously only connected to Rogier van der Weyden, one of the most important artists of the 15th century, originate directly from Rogier's workshop and must have been drawn by his pupils as part of their training.

On display is Portrait of a young woman – this portrait is the only drawing attributed to Rogier himself and is of exceptionally high quality.

Olenka Horbatsch, curator of Dutch, Flemish and German prints and drawings, 1400–1800, said: 'Drawings are often the first and most intimate records of expression, and they are vital to understanding the art of this period.

'By bringing together some of the best and most important Netherlandish drawings, and presenting them in context, we can trace the history of drawings in this region during this transformative time.'

Hugo Chapman, Simon Sainsbury Keeper of Prints and Drawings, said: 'The exhibition and its accompanying publication are the fruits of a five-year collaborative project of curators, conservators and scientists to research the British Museum's collection of Netherlandish drawings 1400–1600.

'This revealed new information about how the drawings were made, their function and in some cases clarified who made them. This part of the Museum's graphic holdings had not been systematically studied since the 1930s so the chance to present new findings about this marvellous group of drawings is hugely exciting.'