In 2013, the renovated Rijksmuseum Amsterdam opened its doors to the public; and, I have to say, the place is humongous. We actually got lost at a certain point, but thank god for the floor plans.

The museum’s art collection that mostly consists of paintings and historical artifacts is breath taking. The new display of the museum’s showpiece De Nachtwacht (The Nightwatch) does not fail to impress either. Spectators are led through a gallery full of impressive paintings by other famous Dutch painters like Jan Asselijn and Johannes Vermeer, while De Nachtwacht slowly approaches.

Verspronck – Meisje in het Blauw (Girl in Blue)

Anthony van Dyck – Willem II en zijn bruid Maria Stuart (Willem II and his bride Maria Stuart)

Dutch painters like Van Gogh and Rembrandt do often seem to steal the spotlight; however, the everyday objects have always impressed me the most. Teapots, furniture, jewelry; they appear different, but secretly they are still the same now. Shiny, elegant and expensive looking accessories, costumes and interior displayed power and/or wealth. Nowadays, our teapots may not be as impressive as they were during the Rococo, but we do find pleasure in displaying our cars, gadgets and designer clothes.

I was told that it is slightly inappropriate, but I couldn’t help humming The Pirates of the Caribbean theme song He’s a Pirate while passing through The Dutch Overseas collection. Not because I was humming too loud, but because some paintings depict scenes of war and loss, and not a blockbuster movie.

By the end of the day, I’m still a girl who really wants to rob the Special Collections gallery of its dresses, gems and jewels. On our way back home, we actually made up a game and called it the if-you-could-steal-one-museum-piece-what-would-it-be? game (catchy I know). It’s quite difficult to pick one thing though because all of a sudden you remember that there was a diamond on display.

Love, Izzy

Share