The Night Watch
Rembrandt · 1642
Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam
The national museum of the Netherlands, in Amsterdam, where a million objects tell eight hundred years of Dutch art and history, from medieval panels to the Golden Age canvases that line its Gallery of Honour.
- 1 million
- objects in the collection
- 8,000
- objects on display
- 2,000+
- paintings from the Dutch Golden Age
- 2.7 million
- visitors in 2023
- 700,000
- works free to download in Rijksstudio
Founded in 1798
The museum began in the Batavian Republic. Soon after that republic was proclaimed in 1795, its minister of finance Isaac Gogel urged that a national museum, on the French model, would serve the country; on 19 November 1798 the government voted to found one.
King Louis Bonaparte, a brother of Napoleon, ordered the move to Amsterdam in 1808, and the city's own paintings, The Night Watch among them, joined the collection. The museum opened in 1809 in the Royal Palace and moved to the Trippenhuis in 1817.
Cuypers' palace and the Gallery of Honour
Pierre Cuypers won the new competition of 1876, work began that October, and the museum opened at its new site on 13 July 1885. The building is two squares, each with an atrium in its centre, a tunnel through the middle, and the Gallery of Honour on the first floor.
The Night Watch hangs in its own gallery at the far end of the Gallery of Honour. Inside the building is a research library, the largest public art history library in the Netherlands, and Queen Beatrix reopened the main building on 13 April 2013 after a long renovation.
The Golden Age, and everything around it
More than two thousand paintings of the Dutch Golden Age make up the heart of the collection, the work of Rembrandt and his pupils foremost, with Vermeer, Hals, Steen and Ruisdael around them.
The museum's reach runs wider still. A small Asian collection sits in a pavilion of its own, opened in 2013, and the Rijksstudio puts hundreds of thousands of collection images up for free use. In 2023 the museum drew 2.7 million visitors, the largest art museum in the country.
What to see
The Night Watch
Rembrandt · 1642
A militia company comes forward out of the shadows as the captain, in black, orders his lieutenant to begin the march; Rembrandt's largest and best-known canvas, dated 1642, and the first group portrait to show its figures in motion.
The Milkmaid
Johannes Vermeer · 1660
A maidservant stands pouring milk into a bowl, caught in the act while everything around her holds still; Vermeer made this quiet kitchen scene around 1660.
The Jewish Bride
Rembrandt · c. 1665–1669
A man rests one hand on the woman's shoulder and the other on her chest, painted around 1665 to 1669.
The Little Street
Johannes Vermeer · 1658
A woman in a doorway and children playing in the street, from around 1657 to 1658.
Woman in Blue Reading a Letter
Johannes Vermeer · c. 1663
A woman in a blue jacket stands reading a letter in the morning light of a still room, painted around 1663, the first Vermeer the museum acquired.
Syndics of the Drapers' Guild
Rembrandt · 1662
Cloth officials in black look up from their ledgers as if interrupted, the group portrait Rembrandt made in 1662.
A Militiaman Holding a Berkemeyer, Known as the ‘Merry Drinker’
Frans Hals · c. 1628–1630
A smiling militiaman in a wide black hat holds a berkemeyer at waist level while his free hand gestures outward, in Frans Hals's study of around 1628 to 1630.
The Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede
Jacob van Ruisdael · 1670
A windmill stands over the river at Wijk bij Duurstede, owned by the Amsterdam Museum and on loan to the Rijksmuseum since 30 June 1885.
The Threatened Swan
Jan Asselijn · 1650
A swan spreads its wings to defend its nest from a dog, Jan Asselijn's painting of around 1650.
Winter landscape with skaters
Hendrick Avercamp · 1608
A frozen canal crowded with skaters and sledges, some there for pleasure and others labouring out of need, Avercamp's winter of around 1608.
The Feast of Saint Nicholas
Jan Steen · 1665
A family gathers on Saint Nicholas's eve: a boy weeps at the left while an older girl holds out an empty shoe to tease him, Jan Steen's scene of around 1665 to 1668.
Collections
The Gallery of Honour
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem · Rembrandt · 1630
The Gallery of Honour on the first floor, with the Night Watch at its far end.
Landscapes of the Golden Age
Landscape with Waterfall · Jacob van Ruisdael · 1668
Landscapes by Jacob van Ruisdael, including wooded views with waterfalls.
Still life and animal painting
Still Life with a Turkey Pie · Pieter Claesz · 1627
The laid tables of Pieter Claesz, food, glass and metal painted with exacting care.
Middle Ages and Renaissance
The Adoration of the Magi · Geertgen tot Sint Jans · 1480
Adoration of the Magi, a daylight scene with a procession on a bright hillside.
The nineteenth century
Girl in a White Kimono · George Hendrik Breitner · 1894
George Hendrik Breitner's Amsterdam and the later Dutch century, including work by Vincent van Gogh.
Who decides what goes back
The museum does not decide what leaves its collection. Dutch national collections belong to the state, and restitution requests are ruled on by the Colonial Collections Committee, which describes itself as independent and says it advises the Minister of Education, Culture and Science on cultural goods removed from the colonies. The Rijksmuseum states that its own part is the research: it belongs to the Colonial Collections Consortium, and between 2019 and 2022 it took part in a pilot project on the provenance of objects from Indonesia and Sri Lanka, working with researchers from both countries. The committee publishes its recommendations object by object. Indonesia's 2023 request covered the Pita Maha collection, the kris of Klungkung, the Singasari statues and the Lombok treasure; its 2026 request covered the Qur'an of Teuku Umar, a statue of Shiva and the Prasasti Damalung. Sri Lanka's request was ruled on the same day in 2023, and Nigeria's in 2024.
Artists
Rembrandt
The Denial of Saint Peter · 1660
A painter, printmaker and draughtsman of the Dutch Golden Age, whose Night Watch closes the Gallery of Honour.
Johannes Vermeer
The Love Letter · 1668
A Dutch painter of quiet middle-class interiors.
Frans Hals
Portrait of a Couple probably Isaac Massa and Beatrix van der Laen · 1622
A Dutch Golden Age painter of Haarlem.
Jan Steen
The Happy Family · 1668
A leading painter of everyday Dutch life in the seventeenth century.
Pieter de Hooch
Woman with a Child in a Pantry · 1656
A painter of quiet domestic rooms with an open doorway, a master of Dutch Golden Age interiors.
Judith Leyster
The Serenade · 1629
A Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works, portraits and still lifes.
Gerard ter Borch
Portrait of Helena van der Schalcke · 1648
A Dutch Golden Age painter, mainly of genre subjects.
Carel Fabritius
Portrait of Abraham de Potter · 1649
A Dutch painter who was a pupil of Rembrandt and worked in his studio in Amsterdam.
Aelbert Cuyp
River Landscape with Riders · 1653
A Dutch Golden Age painter, mainly of landscapes.
Willem van de Velde the Younger
The Cannon Shot · 1680
A Dutch painter who specialised in marine art.
Vincent van Gogh
Farming Village at Twilight · 1884
A Dutch Post-Impressionist, one of the best-known painters in the history of Western art.
George Hendrik Breitner
The Singel Bridge at the Paleisstraat in Amsterdam · 1898
A Dutch painter and photographer of Amsterdam Impressionism, noted for street scenes and harbours.
Artworks
The Gallant Conversation, known as Paternal Admonition
Gerard ter Borch · 1654
Aix Annunciation
Barthélemy d'Eyck · 1443
The Stone Bridge
Rembrandt · 1638
Portrait of Maria Trip
Rembrandt · 1639
Militia Company of District XI under the Command of Captain Reynier Reael
Frans Hals, Pieter Codde · 1633
The Arrest of Diepo Negoro by Lieutenant-General Baron De Kock
Nicolaas Pieneman · 1830
Allegory of the Dutch victory over the Spanish fleet at Gibraltar, 25 April 1607
Adam Willaerts · 1615
A Mayor of Delft and his Daughter
Jan Steen · 1655
Portrait of a Girl Dressed in Blue
Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck · 1641
Portrait of Don Ramón Satué
Francisco Goya · 1823
Isaac Blessing Jacob
Govert Flinck · 1638
Portrait of an old woman reading
Gerrit Dou · 1631
Sources
- Rijksmuseum, “History of the Rijksmuseum”
- Rijksmuseum, “The Night Watch”
- Rijksmuseum, “The Milkmaid”
- Rijksmuseum, “Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters”
- Rijksmuseum, “Rijksmuseum rounds off historic year”
- Wikipedia, “Rijksmuseum”
- Wikipedia, “The Jewish Bride”
- Wikipedia, “The Little Street”
- Wikipedia, “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter”
- Wikipedia, “The Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild”
- Wikipedia, “The Merry Drinker”
- Wikipedia, “The Threatened Swan”
- Wikipedia, “Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede”
- Wikipedia, “The Feast of Saint Nicholas”
- Wikipedia, “Rembrandt”
- Wikipedia, “Johannes Vermeer”
- Wikipedia, “Frans Hals”
- Wikipedia, “Jan Steen”
- Wikipedia, “Pieter de Hooch”
- Wikipedia, “Judith Leyster”
- Wikipedia, “Gerard ter Borch”
- Wikipedia, “Carel Fabritius”
- Wikipedia, “Aelbert Cuyp”
- Wikipedia, “Willem van de Velde the Younger”
- Wikipedia, “Vincent van Gogh”
- Wikipedia, “George Hendrik Breitner”
- Wikipedia, “Jacob van Ruisdael”
- Wikipedia, “Jan Asselijn”
- Wikipedia, “Hendrick Avercamp”
- Wikipedia, “Pieter Claesz”
- The Night Watch — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Milkmaid — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Jewish Bride — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Little Street — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Woman in Blue Reading a Letter — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Syndics of the Drapers' Guild — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- A Militiaman Holding a Berkemeyer, Known as the ‘Merry Drinker’ — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Threatened Swan — CC0 via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
- Winter landscape with skaters — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Feast of Saint Nicholas — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Landscape with Waterfall — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Still Life with a Turkey Pie — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Adoration of the Magi — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Girl in a White Kimono — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Denial of Saint Peter — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Love Letter — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Portrait of a Couple probably Isaac Massa and Beatrix van der Laen — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Happy Family — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Woman with a Child in a Pantry — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Serenade — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Portrait of Helena van der Schalcke — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Portrait of Abraham de Potter — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- River Landscape with Riders — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Cannon Shot — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- Farming Village at Twilight — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
- The Singel Bridge at the Paleisstraat in Amsterdam — CC0 via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
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