Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam is a Dutch national museum which is dedicated to arts, crafts and history. The museum is located on the Museumplein in the city centre and is one of Amsterdam’s most popular and visited museums. It is recommendable to avoid visiting the museum during the rush hours after 4 p.m. in the high season from April to June.
The museum was founded as the National Art Gallery in The Hague in 1800 to make the collections of the Dutch stadtholders accessible to the public. However, it was moved to the city of Amsterdam on orders of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland in 1808. With the museum the collection of paintings owned by The Hague including Rembrandt’s The Night Watch came to Amsterdam.
The beautiful building that houses the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam was designed by Pierre Cuypers who included both Gothic and Renaissance elements. The museum was opened in 1885 but it went some alterations in the 20th century. Currently, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam is under restoration which is scheduled to be completed by 2013 and only about four hundred of the one-million piece collection are on display in Philips Wing that is already renovated. The exhibition called The Masterpieces includes works by the artists of the Dutch Golden Age such as Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, Frans Hals, Jacob van Ruysdael and Rembrandt’s pupils.