Embarrassment of Riches: Rijksmuseum

Located in Amsterdam, it isn’t a surprise that the museum is known for the best collection of Dutch art in the world. However, with more than 8,000 artefacts on display in 80 wings...it is almost too much eye candy to be seen in one day. Kay and I were quite determined and mapped out a plan of attack. First we inquired about the textiles on display to be sure we’d included all of those. The attendant couldn’t think of many textiles on display, but dutifully marked a few spots. (We later learned, it wasn’t that they didn’t have wonderful textiles, just in relation to the vastness of the collections, it was a smaller percentage.)

Understanding that the textiles might be limited, we began taking photos of art with early examples of clothing. Ten statues at the tomb gave perfect examples of the garb. A costume book also caught our eyes, we wished we could have turned the pages.

Tapestries filled nooks and behind other displays, but it was also granted a room for those alone. But, the amazing room of lace displays, was outstanding! We saw not only a full handmade lace dress, but drawings of lace designs shown next to the actual lace.

The quilts at the Rijksmuseum are kept is storage, which is sad for the visitors, but we recognize that will allow for the longevity of the textiles. However, in the doll house are a few amazing examples of textiles which require standing in line to see. All these glories and I haven’t even touched on the Night Watchman, the room sized painting by Rembrandt or the Battle of Waterloo an even larger painting. Art and artists of all types were clearly appreciated and supported in Dutch culture.