In the 15th-century Netherlands, drawings were not yet regarded as works of art in their own right. They were not seen as independent representations, merely as aids to the creation of a complete work which might be a painting, a sculpture, or a tapestry. Their constant use in workshops, and the fact that they were handed on from artist to artist - whether as a legacy to a painter's successors, or on loan from one master to another - led to wear and tear on the drawings themselves, so that in the end they had to be replaced, and the originals were thrown away Consequently, only a fraction of the huge number of drawings that must have existed in the stocks of Netherlandish workshops has been preserved. North of the Alps, it is not until around 1500, when Albrecht Dürer was collecting drawings by his much admired predecessor Martin Schongauer (c. 1450-1491), that any higher regard for drawings as a specific means of artistic expression, or their careful preservation and collection, can be traced.

However, no designs or sketches for any of Rogier's extant paintings have been preserved. Equally problematical is the ascription of any drawings to him. His underdrawings, carried out in another medium, for other purposes, and to a different scale, do not really allow comparisons to be made. This page will therefore look at the best and liveliest of the few dozen drawings that are close to his paintings in motif, style, or the conception of the figures. One might expect that an artist like Rogier, whose paintings display confident and sensitive drawing of form, could produce outstanding work in pen or pencil, but those criteria are not necessarily the deciding factor, since there may also have been some highly gifted draftsmen among Rogier's assistants and successors.

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	Young Man 1430s Silverpoint on prepared paper, 98 x 81 mm Staatliche Museen, Berlin	779*948 True Color 153 Kb
	Portrait of a Young Woman c. 1440 Silverpoint on prepared paper, 166 x 116 mm British Museum, London	720*1056 True Color 149 Kb
	Scupstoel 1447-50 Pen over chalk tracing on paper, 298 x 425 mm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York	1032*700 True Color 115 Kb
	St Mary Magdalene 1450s Silverpoint on prepared paper, 176 x 130 mm British Museum, London	750*1043 True Color 156 Kb
	Virgin with the Blessing Child 1450-55 Metalpoint on white paper mounted on pink-coloured sheet, 216 x 133 mm Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam	701*1148 True Color 162 Kb
	Descent from the Cross c. 1460 Pen over chalk drawing on paper, 240 x 357 mm Musée du Louvre, Paris	1010*663 True Color 165 Kb
	Head of the Madonna c. 1460 Silverpoint on prepared paper, 128 x 109 mm Musée du Louvre, Paris	700*843 True Color 87 Kb