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Introduction

Museum het Rembrandthuis or the Rembrandt House Museum is where paintings and sketches of the renowned artist Rembrandt van Rijn have been stored along with collections of his teacher Pieter Lastman and those of his apprentices. This famous museum house bears its origin from 1606 and was then known as Sint Anthonisbreestraat. It was opened by Queen Whilelmina on June 10 1911 as was suggested by the famous painter, Jan Veth, one of the members of the museum’s first board of governors.

This is the house that Rembrandt bought in 1939 for 13,000 guilders and lived with his wife till 1658. This historical building is a storehouse of 250 of Rembrandt’s 300 creative masterpieces and it was in this house that the famous ‘De Nachtwacht’ was being painted. This 17th century house is where his son was born and where Saskia, his wife, met with a premature death. Rembrandt had to leave the house in 1958 in bankrupt since the company that assigned him to paint the Night Watch was utterly dissatisfied with it and this ultimately wrecked his career. In 1911, however, this monumental edifice was being restored and took the structure of a museum paying tribute to the life and career of the artist.

The museum allows access to all to witness the etchings of the 17th century and to gain knowledge about the techniques and the printing process that brought about these masterpieces. All these are being manifested in Rembrandt’s former graphic workshop by the museum’s specially appointed demonstrators at no extra cost. The methods by which these paintings were made, the procedure that turned pigments and oil into authentic coloured paints are being exhibited to the visitors during the weekends.

Rembrandt’s paintings have been appreciated throughout centuries owing to the hint of artistic emancipation in their outpour. The technique of his aesthetic approach, however, bears reminiscence of traditional extravagance and intellectual plethora. His artistic craftsmanship earned him love and recognition all over the world for ages. Today, the museum is one of the major attractions of Amsterdam with lots of visitors from all over the world who come to the museum to witness Rembrandt’s etchings and other exhibits.

Location

The Rembrandt House Museum enjoys a perfect location in the heart of the cultural city of Amsterdam within a walking distance of 15 minutes from the Central Station. Direct express trains leaving at regular intervals from the train station makes it convenient for the visitors to establish easy connection to the Schiphol Airport. The nearby metro lines allow quick access to Amsterdam Central Station, Nieuwmarkt Station and Hoogstraat exit. Waterlooplein is in close vicinity to the museum.

Transport

Train: From Central Station/ 15 minutes (walk)/ 2 minutes (metro)
Metro: Lines connect Central Station, Nieuwmarkt Station and Hoogstraat exit
Tram: Lines 9 and 14 to nearby Waterlooplein stop
Boat: Waterlooplein or Zwanenburgerwal stops

Parking facility

At a walking distance of 3 minutes from the museum are Waterlooplein or Valkenburgerstraat car parks. Nieuwe Uilenburgerstraat is the nearest parking space in Gassan Diamond that comes free of cost and can only be accessed while enjoying free visits to the old diamond factory.

Timings

Monday – Saturday : 10 a.m. – 5p.m.
Sunday : 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Public Holidays : 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The museum remains closed on 1st January every year.

Virtual Tour

The visitors enter the Rembrandt Museum through a majestic entrance hall the walls of which are ornated with magnificient paintings by Rembrandt and other renowned artists. All these paintings are on display to be sold. The tiny room by the stairs, ‘the small office’, is where Rembrandt used to keep his business related documents.

The artist carried out all kinds of business transactions in the museum’s exquisite anteroom. His clients were welcomed with chilled wine from a marble wine cooler, here. Dozens of paintings were kept on display in this room making it convenient for the clients to make their perfect choice. Rembrandt sold his works as well as of his pupils and other famous masters of art, mostly Dutch, Flemish and Italian.

Rembrandt is well known not only for his beautiful paintings but also for his etchings. The room behind the anteroom had an oak press where the artist printed his etchings. This room was as good as a printing press that has witnessed the formation and growth of numerous inscriptions of the 17th century.

The room that we know today as the salon was actually Rembrandt’s living room and bedroom. This high-ceilinged room is decorated with biblical scenes created by the master and also bears works of art by Pieter Lastman, Jan Lievens and Hercules Segers. Rembrandt slept in a box bed by the side of the door in this memorable room of the museum.

The largest room of the building is the studio where Rembrandt gave birth to innumerable number of paintings between 1639 and 1658. This north-facing room enjoys the perfect aura that encouraged the onset of a new genre of art. The artist had assistants to help him prepare his canvases. All the equipments that were being used by Rembrandt to create his unforgettable masterpieces lay scattered all over the studio.

In the museum’s cabinet Rembrandt kept his collection of “objets d’art” and rarities. Rare objects like seashells, corals, dried animals and exotic weapons collected from distant lands are stored in the shelves of this room. Busts of Roman emperors, Venetian glassware, a terrestrial globe and a celestial globe can be found in this historical room. Art books and some 8000 drawings and prints can be found in this cabinet room.

The most cosy room in Rembrandt’s house was the kitchen where the fire was kept burning almost all the time. This is where the cooking was done and the members of household had their food. The maids used to sleep in the box bed in this room. The kitchen has a door next to the draining board that opens to the courtyard. It is being assumed that Rembrandt painted his masterpiece ‘Night Watch’ under this shelter.

Collection

The Rembrandt House Museum has a collection Rembrandt’s graphic art, 260 of his 290 etchings. 4 original etching plates were being introduced to the huge collection in 1993. These were being added to 78 copper plates that were on display in the museum since their first introduction in the inventory of the Amsterdam print seller, Clement de Jonghe. It is being assumed that de Jonghe had acquired these plates from Rembrandt himself. Aids from various institutions, government and several individuals helped in preserving these wonderful specimens.

The museum also bears collections of Rembrandt’s teacher, Pieter Lastman, his pupils as well as his contemporaries. There has been an effort on the part of the museum authority to store the graphic work of his predecessors and followers. Prints by Leiden artists Jan Lievens and Johannes van Vliet have been among the museum’s finest of accumulations. Both of these eminent artists had been closely linked to Rembrandt in their work fields. The museum is a storehouse of creations by various 18th century German and Austrian artists. Etchings by Christian Wilhelm Dietrich, Georg Friedrich Schmidt and other artists form an integral part of the huge congeries of the museum. Many reproduction prints after drawings by Rembrandt also form a part of the museum.

The magnificient museum has given shape to a new wing where public facilities and exhibition rooms have been arranged. The inventory of 1656 offers a detailed picture of the interior similar to that of Rembrandt’s time. The decorated rooms with their paintings provide essence typical to their character. All the rooms within the museum are undergoing renovation with a hope to give them the look reminiscent of Rembrandt’s time.

Rembrandt’s Etchings

By etchings we understand printed manifestations on papers. The piece of work is being crafted in a metal plate to get printed. Rembrandt, however, used thin copper plates to engrave his work. He is eminently popular for his 290 etchings in addition to his collection of numerous drawings and paintings. His graphic works helped him gain recognition all through Europe and is known to be one of the best etchers of all time.

Landscapes
The portrayal of extravagant landscapes is evident in 26 landscape prints made by the famous artist. Dutch landscapes have found special emphasis in these 17th century etchings. All these were created between 1640 and 1653 in his studio and were based on those drawings that he made while strolling in the countryside around Amsterdam. In some cases he started working straight on the copper plates, like in Six’s Bridge and the Clump of trees with a vista. The three trees have always been a speciality of Rembrandt’s creations. Mountains and exotic buildings have been wonderfully amalgamated in this exclusive collection of creative extravaganza.

Portraits
Between 1633 and 1664 Rembrandt created 20 portraits most of which were commissioned by patrons. He carved portrait of the preacher, Jan Cornelis Sylvius. One of Rembrandt’s most admired portraits is that of his friend Jan Six. The simplicity of structure and technical execution of Rembrandt’s earlier portraits are blended with complex composition and elaborate detailing. Among the various techniques that lead to the creation of such masterpieces are a detailed use of drypoint and burin.

Genre
Scenes from everyday life have been encrypted in more than 50 of Rembrandt’s etchings. Street characters like tramps, quacks and strolling museums are depicted in these creative works of art. The traditional name given to these oeuvres is ‘genre’ scenes. A moral value is attached to each of these artistic pieces and usually contains only a figure. Street scenes are also being created by him in some cases. An eminent example is the “rat-poison pedlar”. Night scenes have also been his speciality.

Biblical Scenes
80 of Rembrandt’s 290 etchings are on biblical scenes and subjects. Events in the lives of Abraham, Tobias and Christ are being finely depicted in the etchings of the artist. Stories from the Old Testament that carries evidence about the earliest of Jewish history are being encrypted in these etchings. The most important of his creations are from the New Testament. Prints and paintings by illustrious predecessors also enjoy a major part of his creations. His prints have stories of the great saints as well. For example, 7 of his works of art bear illustrations of Saint Jerome for whom he had a particular liking.

Paintings

The Rembrandt House Museum houses innumerable paintings created by artists known as Pre-Rembrandtists who used to work in Amsterdam before Rembrandt came in 1631. Pieter Lastman (1583 - 1633), Rembrandt’s teacher, has quite a number of his eminent collections displayed in the museum. Distinguished works of this renowned artist are “The Crucification”(1616), “The Mourning for Abel” (1623), “Abraham’s Sacrifice” (1612) and “The Triumph of Mordecai” (1617).

Another important figure whose paintings enjoy a special place in the museum is Rembrandt’s pupil, Ferdinand Bol. His famous “Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene” is one of the most celebrated works of the museum that was created after 1638.

Jan Pynas is another distinguished artist whose work “The expansion of Hagar” (1614) has attracted attention and appreciation of the visitors who come to savour the beauty of the museum and its collections.

Finds from the Cesspool

In the earlier days most of the inner courtyard of the Rembrandt House had buildings around them. Cesspools in the courtyards served as sewers and rubbish tips. One of these was connected to a vaulted drain that ran under the kitchen and emptied into the water of Zwanenburgwal. This cesspool was excavated to discover a number of finds of the yesteryears, collections of the time when Rembrandt used to live in this house.

Various terracotta pots such as cooking pots and dishes that were being used in the kitchen were discovered from the cesspool. Among the other finds that are on display in the museum are a superb pewter spoon, a wooden butter pat, a lace bobbin, fragments of all sorts of eating and drinking utensils. Pieces of different glasses and a stoneware drinking vessel of Westerwald, Germany was also found from the cesspool. The other ascertainments are the Italian tazza decorated with the figure of a child holding a windmill, a large number of pipes and a smoker’s firepan.

The Rembrandt Museum Centre

The Rembrandt Information Centre (RIC) is located on the fifth floor of the museum. Here, you will be getting answer to your querries about Rembrandt and his works. You can read books and consult CD-roms available in the museum library. The RIC is open to visitors on weekdays by appointment. An important aspect of this information centre is a complete collection of photographs of Professor Werner Sumowski. The six-volume Gemälde derRembrandt-Schüler is an eminent part of this German art historian’s congeries. He also published the ten-volume Drawings of the Rembrandt School dedicated to drawings by Rembrandt’s pupils. Numerous supplementary documents and photographs are available in the library for the visitors to consult.

It was in 1947 that the first journal of the Rembrandt house Museum was being published. Later it acquired the name of The Rembrandt House Chronicle. It comes out twice a year and is published by the Friends of the Rembrandt House.

Museumshop

Opening Hours
Monday – Saturday: 10.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m.
Sundays and holidays: 1.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m.

The museum has a shop on the ground floor of the building displaying authentic collections by the well-known designer, Swip Stolk. Paper goods like cards, notebooks and playing cards, silk scarves, ties and t-shirts, catalogues and books about Rembrandt, glassware, CD-rom and reproductions of Rembrandt etchings are available in the museum shop.

Rental facilities

The Rembrandt House Museum can be used for events every day of a week from 5.30 p.m. onwards. The charges of the museum area on rent are:
Between 5.30 p.m. and 7.00 p.m.: Euro 450.00 per hour
Between 7.00 p.m. and midnight: Euro 2150.00 in total

Conclusion

Rembrandthuis or the Rembrandt House Museum attracts visitors from all over the world to witness glorious display of artistic extravaganza in the forms of paintings, etchings, drawings and graphic works. Rembrandt’s paintings have been appreciated throughout centuries for his artistic craftmanship. His works evoke a marvellous blend of the traditional along with the intellectual. The museum enjoys numerous collections by Rembrandt’s teacher, Pieter Lastman, and his apprentices as well. The demands of the visitors to expand the museum area have led to refurbishment of the museum building with an attempt to synchronise with Rembrandt’s time.