The Watermark Imaging System (WImSy)
Rob Fucci and Rick Johnson at work with the WImSy
Project
Innovative research into watermarks in Dutch drawings (I-WaNT)
RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History & Various Partners
Watermarks provide important information about the dating, origin, and production of paper. In the I-WaNT project, the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History – investigated watermarks in seventeenth-century drawings from the Northern Netherlands. The emphasis was placed on drawings by Rembrandt and artists from his immediate environment. The project applied digital analysis techniques to better identify and compare watermarks. The project used the Watermark Imaging System (WImSy), a prototype developed by Prof. Paul Messier at Yale University. In addition, the pattern recognition software (marking tools and video overlays) of Prof. em. Rick Johnson (Cornell University) was used.
Results
In total, more than 500 watermarks have been scanned in the following collections:
– Fondation Custodia
– Amsterdam Museum
– University Library Leiden
– Museum Bredius
– RKD
All the scanned drawings have now been included in RKDimages. For the associated watermarks, the database is Marks on Art Further developed. Watermarks can now be described and linked directly to the drawing in which they appear. The input is still ongoing: by 2027, at least 200 watermarks must be freely accessible via RKD Research. The database will be expanded in the future to include other types of brands.
Knowledge transfer
Six interns and work experience placementers participated in the scanning, editing and data entry. In May 2025, twenty international participants at the RKD attended two editions of the short course. Watermarks & Computational Art History, Under the leadership of Rick Johnson. Between the two editions, Rick Johnson and Dr. Rob Fucci (University of Amsterdam) gave a public lecture at Teylers Museum in Haarlem, with an introduction by Prof. Dr. Yvonne Bleyerveld (RKD/University of Leiden). Approximately eighty interested parties attended. In June 2025, the RKD presented the project at the 8th International Conference on Watermarks in Digital Collections from the Bernstein Consortium in Reykjavik.
Publications and follow-up
Rob Fucci publishes the research results of the project in the journal Master Drawings. Rick Johnson's dissertation on digital image analysis of canvas and paper in art history research is freely available via RKD Library. The RKD remains open to receiving new watermark data from researchers and institutions in Marks on Art