diff --git a/docs/source/reference/protocol.rst b/docs/source/reference/protocol.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4febcee8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/reference/protocol.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+rich.protocol
+=============
+
+.. automodule:: rich.protocol
+    :members:
diff --git a/rich/abc.py b/rich/abc.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..acb870f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rich/abc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+from abc import ABC
+
+from .protocol import is_rich_object
+
+
+class RichRenderable(ABC):
+    """An abstract base class for Rich renderables.
+
+    Use this to check if an object supports the Rich renderable protocol. For example::
+
+        if isinstance(my_object, RichRenderable):
+            console.print(my_object)
+
+    """
+
+    @classmethod
+    def __subclasscheck__(cls, other) -> bool:
+        return is_rich_object(other)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    from rich.text import Text
+
+    t = Text()
+    print(isinstance(t, RichRenderable))
+
+    class Foo:
+        pass
+
+    f = Foo()
+    print(isinstance(f, RichRenderable))
+    print(isinstance("", RichRenderable))