Editor Pick
Rijksmuseum
- October 17, 2004
- Rated 5 of 5 by
lrybka from Moscow, Russia
This is one of the two major sights in Amsterdam, featuring the Netherlands collection of art. Although the museum was founded in the late 18th century in the Hague and transferred to Amsterdam in 1808, its strongest point is 17th century Holland art, especially paintings by artists of the caliber of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer, although there are many startling Middle Age masterpieces. However, you are by no means limited to the Holland art, stunning though it may be: paintings by other European artists (those not originally brought to France for exhibition there and acquired later), Oriental art, and the decorative arts also feature prominently on the list. Rembrandt, van Ruisdael, van Heemskerck, Frans Hals, Paulus Potter, Jan Steen, Vermeer, de Hooch, Terborch, Gerard Dou, Fra Angelico, Tiepolo, Goya, Rubens, Van Dyck, and later Dutch artists of The Hague school and the Amsterdam impressionist movement – this is only an incomplete list of the treasures you will find inside the museum’s walls.
Today, the Rijksmuseum justly ranks with the Louvre, the Uffizi, the National Gallery in London, and the Hermitage as a major European center for decorative arts. Difficult to see how it could not, with about 260 rooms where artistic treasures are tucked into every single corner. This is also the largest museum in the Netherlands, attracting well over a million visitors each year. The numbers now, however, are likely to be much more limited, due to the fact that the major part of the Rijksmuseum was due to close for refurbishments in the late fall of 2003, and the works were supposed to last several years.
When the museum works, its opening hours are daily from 10 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon, and the cost of admission 8.50 adults, free for children under 18.
From journal Amsterdam Travels
Editor Pick
Rijksmuseum
- September 23, 2004
- Rated 5 of 5 by
mkrouglova from Bradenton, Florida
Of course, exploring the museum’s 200-and-something rooms is not an easy task, and I could not even dream of compiling a list of what is a must-see, especially since only a small portion of the exhibits the Rijksmuseum owns is displayed to the public at any given time, so you never know what can be found when the exposition is changed. But this should give you a rough idea to start with…
1. The Shooting Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch, painted in the year 1642, which is universally known as The Night Watch, by Rembrandt.
2. The Jewish Bride, by Rembrandt (1665)
3. The Syndics, by Rembrandt as well, but painted a little bit earlier – in 1662
4. Rembrandt’s Mother, by Gerard Dou (1630)
5. Night-School, a classic example of late period work by Gerard Dou – in shades and candle-light
6. The Kitchen-Maid, by Johannes Vermeer (painted approximately in the year 1658)
7. The Little Street, again by Vermeer – dating back to the same year as the previous one
8. Vermeer’s Young Woman Reading a Letter – painted over two years from 1662 to 1663
9. The Letter, painted by Johannes Vermeer in 1666;
10. At least a couple of paintings and genre pieces by Gerard Terborch
11. Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede, by Jacob van Ruisdael
12. Portrait of Nicolaes Hasselaer, by Frans Hals, painted in the 1630s – a rather sad, but revealing picture
13. The Merry Toper, oil on canvas portrait by Frans Hals, created approximately between 1628 and 1630
14. Portrait of a Woman at the Spinning Wheel, another oil on canvas, but this time painted by Maerten van Heemskerck, who used to work in a manner resembling that of the Italian Renaissance;
15. Orpheus Charming the Beasts, which is the most celebrated work by Paulus Potter
From journal Amsterdam Trips