The Engravings Department

In 1867, the Swiss artist Henri Trenk depicts in a lithography the foundation of The Romanian Literary Society, under the patronage of Prince Carol. Among the participants were well-known personalities of the Romanian culture, founders and donors of the Romanian Academy Library collections.
In 1874, D. A. Sturdza, prime-minister and founder of the Academic Society, together with the writer Alexandru Odobescu, the president-to-be of the Romanian Academy, donate the first engravings presenting portraits of Romanian Princes, made by well-known foreign authors. Sturdza also donated several engravings albums. In 1901, the collection is enriched with representative drawings of the Romanian fine arts, formerly of the Sfântul Sava College Collections; in 1894, during an Academy meeting, an Italian drawing from the 16th century assigned to Giulio Romano was presented. This can be regarded as the nucleus of the future collection of foreign drawings.
Following the organization of collections of the Romanian Academy Library, the Engravings, Drawings, Maps and Photos Department was established, which gathers works of the Romanian Engravings School (from the 19th century till today) and drawings of the most representative Romanian artists, as well as original engravings and drawings of European and Oriental masters (16th – 20th century). The Engravings collection numbers about 95,000 pieces and 43,000 drawings. A special collection is formed by over 300,000 photographs, of the Romanian and foreign schools, all the photographic techniques being included. The maps and the engraved or drawn plans complete the collection.