The New Rijksmuseum Bulletin (vol. 73, no. 1) highlights research initiated by, or in collaboration with, the Women of the Rijksmuseum project. Introduced by Jenny Reynaerts, the project’s outgoing chair, this issue offers an overview of the various approaches to understanding the role of women in the world of art.

Laurien van der Werff examined contemporary documents and analysed late sixteenth- and seventeenth-century prints to reveal that women in print publishing and printing were not merely participants in family businesses, but active contributors in essential as well as supportive roles.

Lucien Midavaine combined provenance research with biographical research into the life of the Countess de Pagès, an interesting French aristocrat presumed to be the subject of a nineteenth-century portrait, which led to a reidentification of that work as Saint Claire.

Rachel Esner’s article centres on Ida Peelen, whose publications, reports and statements show a woman who engaged in debates on the potential educational role of museums in society and implemented changes to this effect as the director of Huis Lambert van Meerten in Delft.

Anne-Linde Ruiter analysed the portrait of Geertruida den Dubbelde, whose role as a victualler for her husband’s ships could be reconstructed through letters written by her female family members and is confirmed in the painting’s background showing ships ready to depart from the harbour.

Marion Anker reconstructs the life of Ada Hondius-Crone – an important donor to, among other institutions, the Rijksmuseum – whose activities as a collector shaped her ‘distinctive identity’ as a modern woman, reflected in the objects she donated.

The series of acquisitions emphasises the broad range of objects connected to women, underscoring the depth of their involvement in the art world.

The new Rijksmuseum Bulletin is available via bulletin.rijksmuseum.nl.