After the Van Gogh museum, we went to the National Rijksmuseum. The museum was under construction so only parts of it were open. The museum puts you on a pretty natural progression through Dutch works. The first few rooms showcase paintings of Dutch history and famous battles and also include some artifacts. From there, the museum leads you into a room filled with giant, beautiful antique doll houses. The first floor ends with some Dutch ceramics which is known for its blue and white patterns. I remember a Dutch friend of mine having several ceramics of that style in her home when we were kids.
The second floor was more focused on art and paintings. The first couple of rooms had a variety of still life paintings. I had never thought these were that interesting before but seeing them up close was really remarkable. The paintings were so detailed and realistic, it was pretty incredible. The museum then led you into the rooms with paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Jan Steen and many other famous Dutch painting. However, they still didn’t have the Girl with the Pearl Earring. Spoiler alert – I’ve been to a ton of museums this year and still haven’t seen it so finally I gave up and did a search. It’s in the Hague. I came so close but didn’t go to the right part of the Netherlands…
The last room had Rembrandt’s most famous painting, the Night Watch. It took up a whole wall in the room and there were little guides all around that told you things to look for. It was really cool to find some of the secrets of the painting. One of the most interesting facts was that the painting used to be even larger but was cut to make it fit in a former home.
The museum isn’t particularly large. I know it is being remodeled so it is possible that not all of the paintings are on display. However, I really liked the layout. The museum guided you through room by room and it was very linear. While it is nice to openly explore some museums, it’s also really easy to miss exhibits that way. I probably wouldn’t have tried to see the still life paintings if I didn’t have to walk through them, but they ended up being some of the works I remember the most.
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