> The RKD and Iconclass

The RKD and Iconclass

In 1950, the RKD began its collaboration with Henri Van der Waal on the development of Iconclass, with the publication of mounted and annotated photographs of Dutch works of art, the so-called DIAL (Decimal Index of the Art of the Low Countries). From 1950 until 1982, 28 sets of 500 cards were produced, making for a total of 14,000 items. Naturally, the DIAL, which is available at various art-historical institutes around the world, can be consulted in the RKD reading room.

In addition, the RKD’s Iconography department maintains a large collection of image documentation of paintings, drawings, and prints by Dutch and foreign artists. These holdings are accessible via Iconclass. Only recently, this documentation was expanded considerably with the transfer of comparable collections assembled at the University of Leiden and the Free University of Amsterdam .

In the RKDimages database, which can be consulted via the RKD website, a large number of Dutch works of art is made accessible with the help of Iconclass notations.

RKDimages