Today, our first full day in Amsterdam, we set our sights on the Rijksmuseum. We left the hotel and took the Metro up to Centraal Station. The Metro was only introduced in 1977, and with typical Dutch efficiency, they got it right! The stations are spacious and well-planned, the trains are large and roomy — and they didn't try to duplicate the older tram routes in the middle of the city. Basically, you use the Metro to get from the outer parts of Amsterdam into the central hub at Centraal Station, then use the very efficient trams to get around the inner city. And they haven't left the trams to become ageing rattle-traps as in many other cities — the trams are comfortable, modern, and frequent!
Anyway, we got into Centraal Station, and then decided to walk at least part of the way towards the Rijksmuseum. This meant that we walked down Damrak past Beursplein, and down to Dam Square.
In Dam Square, you find the National Monument (“Nationaal Monument op de Dam”, a World War II monument in Amsterdam erected in 1956. Dam Square is the site of the original dam on the Amstel River — Amsteler Dam, hence "Amsterdam" — dating back to about 1270. Subsequent construction around this dam turned it into a square, and the ancient heart of the city. Two other significant buildings on the square are the Royal Palace, and the 15th century Nieuwe Kerk.
Also near Dam Square we found Madame Tussaud's, which had a familiar face in the window!
We went a little further, down Rokin (the continuation of Damrak beyond Dam Square), until we came to the Bloemenmarkt, which is a permanent fixture, the world's only floating flower market on the Singel (one of the many canals) between Rokin and Koningsplein. Today it mainly sells tulip bulbs and blooms, and souvenirs. We bought some bulbs for our Scottish friends, and would have loved to get some for ourselves but the Australian quarantine regulations would not have allowed us to take them home!
From here, we jumped on a tram which took us directly to Museumplein and the Rijksmuseum.
The Rijksmuseum has a rich collection of artefacts relating to Dutch history, and a very strong collection of artworks. Obviously it is particularly strong in the works of the Dutch masters — Hals, Vermeer, Rembrandt and loads of others.
A superb ship model
Meissen Porcelain
A magnificent 7-string viol
Frans Hals
Johannes Vermeer
Rembrandt van Rijn
The most famous work in the museum is Rembrandt's "Night Watch", but this is in the middle of a major research project, Operation Night Watch, in which the entire painting is being scanned millimetre by millimetre using a macro x-ray fluorescence scanner. This scan will reveal the underlying structure of the painting, as well as the various chemical elements in the paint, and will be used to plan future conservation of the work. The whole process will take 56 separate scans, each scan taking 24 hours! So the painting is just a little inaccessible during this process.
Other Rembrandt works in the collection include these:
Others
Hendrik Mesdag - Fishing Pinks
in breaking waves
Paul Joseph
Constantin Gabriël
- A Windmill
on a Polder
Waterway
Piet Mondriaan
- Oostzijdse Mill
along the River Gein
by Moonlight
Jan Asselijn - The Threatened Swan
Hendrick Avercamp
- Enjoying the ice near a Town
Hendrick Avercamp
- Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters
The Rijksmuseum has a beautiful old-style library, the Cuypers Library, aka The Rijksmuseum Research Library. The reading room cuts through the three floors of the museum and is lined with bookshelves the whole height of the building, accessed by an elegant — and rather famed — cast iron spiral staircase reaching all levels. Behind the scenes there are 5.4 kilometres of books. The collection focuses on Dutch art and history from the Middle Ages onwards.
As we left the museum, we passed a rather superb instrumental group busking beneath its arches — a rather good place to busk, as the weather had been showery on and off all day (one of the reasons we opted for indoor activities). We hopped the tram back to Centraal Station, and then the Metro back to the hotel.
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