Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

A museum that features magnificent selection of Dutch masterpieces from the Golden Age.
There you can find the famous dolls' houses, a wealth of silver, icons of Dutch history and of course the paintings by the great masters of the 17th century, Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Vermeer and Rembrandt.

On display at the Rijksmuseum is the most amazing dollhouse dating back to the 17th century. The dollhouse belonged to Petronella Oortman, who owned the house as an adult. The details in the house are astonishing.

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The Rijksmuseum is Amsterdam's biggest museum and houses Rembrandt's famous 'Night Watch'. The museum is under contruction until 2010 though, so only a very small portion of it is open to the public. Still, it's worth a visit.

I saw the Masterpieces in fall 2005. Although the museum building was undergoing reparations, they had made a great exhibition of the masterpieces in one corner of the building. The big nightwatch was impressive. Rembrandts smaller paintings were also very good.

If you are anywhere near Amsterdam the Rijksmuseaum cannot be missed. It houses a stunning collection including a outstanding collection of Dutch Masters. Like the Louvre and London's National Gallery you could spend weeks wandering around and still not see everything. The audio guides are definately worth while and help bring to life some of the better know exhibits.

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The Rijksmuseum has a magnificent main edifice - I found it pleasurable just to stand and look up at the top. It's one of those places, like the Louvre, that house so many artistic riches, you can't possibly take it all in with a single visit.

Rembrandt's Nightwatch (which is immense!) and several other Dutch paintings of the same era were quite amazing. The painting just to the left of Nightwatch contained incredible detail on a silver cup, with a tiny reflection on the side of it.

There was an intricately decorated artist's box, complete with little vials of paint, that caught my eye.

The Poppenhuis (dollhouse) was the best part for me. About 5'x3', it had three floors of two rooms each and was built into an elaborate polished wood cabinet with legs and carvings and doors. The dollhouse had windows of stained glass and oiled paper and was fitted out with miniature versions of an affluent 17th century Dutch household: tiny silver place settings and candlesticks, woven carpets. The attic had piles of little boxes, and baskets hanging from the rafters. It made you long to sit down and play with it. From a painting done at the time, you can see what the resident dolls looked like. However, only one -- a baby doll -- survived.

Sidebar: There were two costumed Mongolian musicians playing in the museum's courtyard: a woman plucking a zither-like instrument and a man playing a Mongolian fiddle, a boxy instrument with two strings, played with a bow. He was doing "throat singing," a distinctive Mongolian art where different parts of the body (diaphragm, chest, throat, nasal passages) are used to produce the most amazing sounds.

The month before my visit to the Rijksmuseum, I had been fortunate enough to catch a free show given by Mongolian singers, dancers, and musicians at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. I couldn?t believe that I was able to hear throat singing twice in one month, on different sides of the Atlantic.

Admission 6,50 euros; 18 and under - free.

The Rijksmuseum holds one of the largest collections of Rembrandt's paintings in the world. The Jewish Bride, The Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers Guild, the Self-portrait of Rembrandt as a Young Man and, of course, The Night Watch, are among his most famous works. Personally, I like the dollhouses which is appealing even to both children and adults. There are also magnificient works of art at the Rijksmuseum by other Dutch artists e.g Vemeer

To be honest, I was a little disappointed when I visit the Rijksmuseum because for 10 euros, I expected more. I was informed that the museum is undergoing a major renovation and should be completed by 2008. Even walking slowly, I finished the whole museum in 2 hours. I've spent more time at the Lourve and the Vatican museums so you can understand how I feel.

Admission fee is 10 euros for adults
The Rijksmuseum is open every day from 9:00-18:00hr

The Rijkmuseum is a TERRIFIC place to absorbe some history, you can even see a "Rembrandt" or two.
BUT this being the Netherlands, and the Dutch being sailors, and ships being the "stuff" sailors use, ships, actually SHIP MODELS et al are the "order of the day".
Yes there are MANY other things to see, but if your "into boats" the way I am "into boats", you will be happy with MANY of the displays. Not just ships, and boats but the mechinisms that make them work, work better, repair them, build them from "scratch". Many of the models looked like they could have been "patent" models. Full, working, detailed models that are offten required to get a patent issued.
The pictrue I choose to use with this tip is a model of a dry dock that is being used to build a ship. This is VERY detailed but probably was not a patent model, thought it may have been built as a "sales aid" to get investors interested in a project.