The biggest of Amsterdam’s top 3, the Rijksmuseum is also the largest art museum in the Netherlands—with record-breaking attendance to match. The building itself, which dates from 1885, is a waltz through history, juggling Gothic and Renaissance styles. A decade-long revamp, completed in 2013, fused modern elements into the original design, brightening up dark, cramped galleries with skylights and glass walls.
Golden Age paintings are the calling card, spread through the long Gallery of Honor that ends with Rembrandt’s epic The Night Watch, under restoration again, with the old varnish being removed to optimally preserve the artwork for future generations. With 8,000 masterworks on display, covering 800 years of Dutch art and history, this isn’t a niche affair: model ships, rich costumes, and Asian art figure in its well-paced chronological trot from the Middle Ages to Mondrian. Best of all is the installation-style curation, with paintings surrounded by clusters of artifacts from the same period.

This is Holland, remember, a country celebrated for practical design, be it bikes or sprawling 80-room museums that lure over two million visitors annually. Benches anticipate where you want to linger, and floor plans are mini-masterpieces.

So glad I got a 9am entry ticket, I’d forgotten what it feels like when tourist busloads descent and individuals jostle for ogling space. And then there are the Rijksmuseum staff who leads groups and the private tours as well. Well I’m going to offer you just a sprinkling of the artwork I saw and hope you enjoy the selection, admittedly a very eclectic one.

Made a beeline for the 2nd floor ‘Gallery of Honour’. A fantastic set of leadlight windows dominate the hall before you enter the gallery space….picked out this particular gentlemen to highlight just because of the leadlight colours…Hendrick de Keyser – a Dutch sculptor, merchant in Belgium bluestone, and architect who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism changing into Baroque. (Mannerism favored elongated forms and cool elegance, Baroque introduced intense lighting, motion, and intense emotional engagement).

Henrik de Keyser’s ‘Screaming Child, Stung by a Bee’, apparently drew on a Greek poem by Theocritus about Cupid being bitten by a bee after stealing some honey.

While Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) was among the greatest painters to emerge from the Dutch Golden Era, during his lifetime he was only modestly regarded. It wasn’t until nearly 200 years later that he was finally recognized for his exacting attention to light, color, and form. One of the painter’s many domestic scenes, The Milkmaid showcases the artist’s technical prowess.

Jan Asselijn’s ‘Threatened Swan’ c. 1650 – A swan fiercely defends its nest against a dog. In later centuries, this scuffle was interpreted as a political allegory: the white swan was thought to symbolize the Dutch statesman Johan de Witt (assassinated in 1672) protecting the country from its enemies. 

The Cuypers Library is the largest and oldest art history library in the Netherlands. This is the view from the balcony on second floor.

Bartholomeus van der Heist’s ‘Militia of District V111 in Amsterdam’ – civilians served as armed guardsmen to defend their cities. The wealthieest among them were eager to have their portraits included in large civic guard paintings.

Issack Luttichuys’ ‘Portrait of a Young Lady’ is still in its original gilt frame carved with auricular decoration (winding along and through the organic shapes is a festoon of flowers, roses and tulips, that ends in sunflower on the bottom rail).

Gabriel Metsu’s ‘The Sick Child’ – in 1663, the plague ravaged Amsterdam, claiming one in ten lives. Around this time, Metsu painted this picture of a mother comforting her child. Such a sad image.

Cornelis Ketel’s ‘The Company of Captain Dirck Jacobsz Rosecrans and Lietenant Pauw’ – thirteen very self-assured lads pictured here…officers in the Amsterdam militia, recruited from society’s ‘upper levels’.

Adriiaen Pietersz van de Venne’s ‘Fishing for Souls’ – Protestant northerners to the left, Catholic southerners to the right – both fishing for souls in the river dividing them! Ha! Protestants catch is greater and the sun is shining and trees are in leaf (this is a reference to a psalm: the righteous will flourish like a tree bearing fruit, whose leaves never wither).

Cesar Boetius van Everdingen’s ‘A Young Woman Warming her Hands over a Brazier: Allegory of Winter’ – Everdingen’s choice of a young, richly attired woman is unusual (this season was usually represented by a shabbily dressed old man – old because the year is coming to an end, and poor because crops don’t grow in winter).

Jan Veth’s ‘Portrait of Cornelia, Clara and Johanna Veth’ – such a melancholic portrait of his 3 sisters – wanted to give these a hug immediately! At the time, their mother was struggling with depression and died 3 years later. The sorrow they were experiencing is clear in their expressions.

Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriel’s ‘In the Month of May’ (A Windmill on a Polder Waterway) – a Hague school painter depicting a beautiful summer’s day, with reflections of the windmill, sky and grass in the water. Great use of light.

Very different painters but a connection point….yes, the attentive, adoring pooches. Therese Schwartze’s ‘Young Italian Woman, with Puck the Dog’ (image on the left) – the young woman was a professional Italian model known as Fortunata working in Paris in the late 19thC. Schwartze was a young female artist at the time as well, unconventionally pursuing a painting career and became highly successful. Jan Adam Kruseman’s ‘Portrait of Alida Christina Assink’ (image on the right) – this 23 year old had a guardian who was a wealthy landowner. Kruseman used the English portrait style setting with hunting dog and garden vase.

Issac Israel’s ‘The Departure of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army’ – this detachment of soldiers is about to leave Rotterdam (many of the men came from rural communities where poverty and unemployment were rife). Between 1850-1900, some 85,000 soldiers fought in wars in which the Dutch state sought to strengthen its colonial hold on the Indonesian archipelago.

Phew, well after 3 hours, needed to escape the ever-burgeoning crowds @ Rijksmuseum. Caught the handy no 2 tram to Leidseplein to buy lunch. And saw this incredible memorial ‘Against All Currents’, to Peter de Vries, a journalist murdered in a contract killing in 2021, probably as a result of his involvement in the Netherlands’ largest gangland trial. A beautiful tribute to him and bears the words “be who you are, stand up for minorities and the less fortunate, speak your mind honestly, and listen to your sense of justice”, in 41 languages. Sentiments he espoused apparently.

Came across some 40 lovely life-like lizard and iguana sculptures created by Hans van Houwelingen in 1994, crawling through the grass in between the flowerbeds or sit motionless amongst a chaos of bikes and mopeds chained to the perimenter of the small park.

Footpaths thoughout Amsterdam have plantings like this – some are at the end of bloom stage, these were still looking pretty vibrant.

And now I have UK drone operator ID and flyer ID, phew! Just have to work out Canadian requirements.