For several centuries now collectors have preserved their drawings and prints in albums or portfolios, shielded from the light. Frits Lugt (1884–1970), creator of the Fondation Custodia, adopted this principle for most of his works on paper. However, in his Dutch residence some of them were displayed in antique frames, which he also collected with a lively interest. He believed that authentic frames were essential for fully appreciating art works. In 1957 Frits Lugt presented at the Institut Néerlandais (Dutch Institute) in Paris, just recently opened, his first exhibition of drawings by Rembrandt and his school, in antique frames. At the end of his life, in 1970, his collection featured around 900 frames from different periods from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, and different European countries. The frame collection is actually held in three principal groups corresponding to the main drawing schools kept by the Fondation Custodia: Flemish or Dutch, Italian and French. The Italian frames in the Frits Lugt collection are particularly distinguished.

The Dutch collector Frits Lugt (1884 - 1970) was very young when he first grew deeply interested in Rembrandt, then collecting the master’s graphic works all his life. At first he had to become familiar with the drawings by studying albums of facsimiles. The great monographic exhibition devoted to Rembrandt in Amsterdam in September 1898 was a revelation to the fourteen-year old youth. A year after he began writing a biography of the master, illustrated with copies he drew himself after the artist’s drawings and prints. This exercise enabled him to have a thorough knowledge of Rembrandt’s style, exactly as the latter’s pupils learned to possess their master’s manner.