In Amsterdam, we visited both the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. Smithsonian these are not– the entry price for the Van Gogh Museum was 17 euros (almost $20!) and for the Rijksmuseum it was 17.50 euros. Between the two, the Rijksmuseum was infinitely better. The Van Gogh Museum is much smaller, and it’s so popular that all the travel forums recommending buying tickets online ahead of time for a set entry time. Even though we bought tickets ahead for one of the earliest entry times (which was also one of the few not yet sold out when I booked two weeks before), it was still a total crush of people. I think part of the problem is that the audioguides were sending everybody to the same paintings at the same time, and pretty much everyone wants to go see the same classics– i.e., the sunflowers, his room, the self portraits, etc. You’d think they’d have recognized that design flaw by now and figured a way around it.
We didn’t get audioguides and just tried to walk around and enjoy ourselves. I really like Van Gogh so I am glad we went to see the museum while we were there, but if we were back in Amsterdam I probably wouldn’t go again. The Rijksmuseum, however, was epic.
Severin and I spent at least 4.5 hours in there, which is probably a record for us– we are normally pretty efficient museum visitors. We stopped midway through the enjoy cappuccinos and a sweet at the cafe, which was important for giving us a second wind. I took a bunch of notes about all of the cool things we saw, but unfortunately I can’t find the piece of paper I scrawled it on (I think I threw it away), sadly. I will try to recall what I remember.
One of the reasons I liked the museum was that there was a huge variety: there was an entire room of antique guns, each beautifully and distinctly handcarved; we saw full knights’ armor; true-to-life model ships used to educate sailors; loads of delftware; old furniture and recreated canal house interiors; old locks and keys; etc. I also liked it because it’s a distinctly Dutch museum– everything that’s in there helps to tell the Dutch story.
From the Far East (the furthest reaches of the Dutch East India Company), there was a collection of incredible Indonesian and other art. The museum had a nice hard cardboard pamphlet which described what was going on in this stone relief– you can see there was a man disguised as an animal, and this goddess has weapons in all of her hands to exact revenge for whatever bad thing he did– I don’t remember now.
A Buddha, with glistening eyes:
One of my favorite items on display were the one thousand year old “Unicorn Horns,” which a Catholic church in Utrecht used to put out on the high altar on feast days with candlesticks stuck on the pointed ends. However, the flock was duped: they aren’t actually unicorn horns, but the teeth of a narwhal. Still pretty badass…
I loved this bronze sculpture of two knights fighting. I think it would look great on the mantle of the office of my mansion one day…
Folks were predictably crowded around the superstars like Rembrandt’s “Night Watch” and Vermeer’s “The Milkmaid,” but for the most part there was plenty of room for everyone to appreciate everything.
One of my favorite rooms was a naval-themed room. I loved this group of paintings that were done in grayscale:
Wood piece from the stern of a ship:
Here’s a rather aggressive shot of a pitched naval battle…those are mostly bodies flying through the air, if you can’t tell…
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