Today the weather was more in line with what our expectations were for Amsterdam. Definitely the coolest day so far and cloudy with a wind off the North Sea. So our plan to have a second visit to the Rijksmuseum was a good one. Deb secured tickets for early in the day on the belief that because the “Night Watch” by Rembrandt is the main highlight of the museum an early time would be least crowded. It was a very good choice because when we got to the room where it is featured, there were perhaps 20 other people. But the room could easily handle probably 100 people and maybe 150 in a jam. One thing we weren’t totally prepared for was the fact that it was still undergoing restoration. We were aware that a restoration had been in process for a few years but we thought it was completed. That meant that there is a restoration gantry surrounding the painting. It’s wide enough and high enough to leave an unobstructed view on the upper part of the painting. But the very bottom is slightly covered up. In addition there are two sections on the side that are still stabilized with a protective layer. Those areas are a bit translucent so that outlines can be seen, but not detail. We had a peaceful several minutes in which to contemplate the painting, but it soon became a scrum with people jockeying for good spots for viewing.
By then we were off looking at the ‘minor’ masterpieces that were on display in other rooms. There were a few very famous smaller Rembrandts in the first bay. Then in the next bay were located 3 celebrated Vermeer paintings, probably the most celebrated being ‘The Milk Maid’. There are so few Vermeer works known to exist that all are celebrated but some more so. ‘The Milk Maid’ was the painting that was “donated” in lieu of inheritance taxes from the Jan Six estate. Jan died and his estate was valued, and then within a couple days his widow died in a car wreck and the estate was hit with a second separate estate tax. Bye bye Milk Maid. The detail in this painting is incredible. In the lower right of the picture is a small box on the floor. In that box is shown a terracotta vessel that was loaded with hot coals and used as a foot warmer. But he went much further; he captured the delft tiles used as base boards and painted their decorations.
Then he proceeded to show how the plaster above them had deteriorated and was crumbling off the wall. It’s nearly invisible but I used my 10x zoom to look at that section and confirm what he accomplished.
There were eight bays total showing some of the exquisite masterpieces of the 16th to 18 century in the Netherlands and they didn’t disappoint. In an acknowledgement of women painters there was a paintings by a woman artist of the period. We both neglected to capture her name but she executed a beautiful still life. Apologies for missing that, usually I take a pic of the tombstone. We then went through one wing of the museum that covered the 16th and 17th centuries. It featured paintings, sculptures, furniture, silver, glass, and tapestries. It also chronicled the rise of the Dutch republic through their wars against the Spanish monarchy and against England. The artifacts in that area were weapons, armor, and naval paraphernalia belonging to a couple famous Dutch admirals. They received state funerals and entombment in cathedrals at Haarlem and Antwerp.
Once again we had lunch in the cafe and this time it went much more smoothly. Our drinks and food were each delivered appropriately on time. Once again we both ordered the mushroom soup and then shared a dish called bitterballen. Neither of us knew what it might be but it seemed likely to be a meatball based on the description; what the reality turned out to be was another croquette! Thank goodness we got the smaller portion, but to be fair it did have a distinct beefy flavor. We then had the monthly special for dessert, a chocolate and hazelnut torte cake which was very good. I think because of the less ideal weather the museum was busier than yesterday too. We didn’t linger at our table because the line of people waiting for a table was trailing down the entryway stairs.
We went back upstairs to finish looking at the floor we started in the morning. It chronicled the latter 17th century and 18th century. There was a heavy focus on William III of Orange who married Mary Stuart the daughter of James II of Britain. William deposed James in what is titled “the Glorious Revolution” and then became joint ruler along with Mary of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Holland. As might be expected there was an emphasis on artifacts associated with those two rulers. There was one room featuring Rembrandt when he was a very young artist along with some of his contemporary artist friends. I mentioned the library yesterday and today part of the library can be visited from a gallery above. One can see the library without actually going in among the books. The stacks are visible and rise up 5 levels from the floor to the arches just under the arches and glass roof. Originally the only way to access the stacks was a celebrated spiral staircase rising up from the floor to the top stacks. When we finished that wing we had pretty much spent the whole day in the museum so we walked back to the hotel. It had not gotten any warmer during the day and we needed to pack for our trip to Paris tomorrow.
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