The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is another place that was on my must visit list (also included in the I amsterdam card) and I ended up visiting it straight after the Van Gogh Museum (they are located very close together). Originally I’d planned to visit the Rijksmuseum later in the day as the museum states that lunchtime is the busiest time of day but seeing as it was very hot but raining buckets I decided to go in at lunchtime anyways so as to be out of the rain and found that I could walk straight in without having to queue after all.

I think I was possibly more excited about the design of the building than its contents and would certainly have taken more photographs of the exterior if it hadn’t been raining quite so much. The museum, which is dedicated to Dutch art and history from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, has been housed in its current building since 1885. It was designed by Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers and in 2001 was given a revamp and restoration to modernise the interior spaces.

The exterior is stunning of course, with interesting details all over.

but the interiors are just as well maintained with some beautiful features particularly the higher you go up in the building.

The most notable room though is probably the library, where Cuypers’ original design has been quite beautifully renovated.

Inside of course is full of treasures. The Van Gogh, Vermeer and Rembrandt sections were quite full and crowded and I didn’t spend a lot of time around there – I actually don’t really ever feel much need to photograph paintings in galleries, I can always buy a postcard or a print if I really want one. One exception was this beautiful piece of Mary Magdalene by Carlo Crivelli that is even more stunning in person.

Another item I particularly liked was this flower pyramid where a flower would have been put in each spout.

Definitely worth a visit on any trip to Amsterdam, you can find more of my photos here.