Day 65 - Rijk Museum

The Netherlands gave us Rembrandt so naturally one thing I wanted to check out in the Netherlands was its main musuem - the RijkMuseum. Now before I came to Europe, the guide book mentioned it was pretty much closed for renovation (as it turns out from 2003-2008). A wing is open with the major art pieces in it.

The handful of Rembrandt's were impressive and I was surprised how small his self portrait at age 22 was. I was more impressed with one of Vermeer's 'Milk Maid' and even had a chance to do a quick sketch of it. One of Rembrandt's most important pieces was here - Nightwatch.

Until recently, artworks were not viewed as objects you wouldn't dare touch. Thus Nightwatch was cut down 3 sides when it was moved way back when. In the same room was a copy of 'Nightwatch' done before it was cut down (which was on loan from a British Museum - so fortunate in that regard).

Overall I wasn't impressed with paying 'full price' for a museum that is 9/10ths closed and the audio guide was the worst one that I've had yet. Otherwise just spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around and drawing.