About to enter the Rijksmuseum :-)
What an amazing experience! If you plan on visiting the Rijksmuseum, prepare to see many paintings, artefacts from centuries ago, and also prepare to spend 4 -5 hours :-). As with most museums in Amsterdam, you are able to book your tickets online. I wanted to experience this museum on my last day in Amsterdam, and I am so grateful I did.
Per recommendation, I began my tour on the second floor, which had Rembrandt paintings from the 1600s. As I saw the photos I came across several interesting facts, people of those times thought that tobacco was healthy and that they had unique cups where they played interesting games (the Dutch as in many European cultures, like to drink :-) ). Another thing I noticed was that many paintings were influenced by biblical stories, such as the story of “Adam and Eve”.
Drinking games cups
The museum also focuses on the colonial times of the Dutch. I learned the sad truth of how the Dutch would try to give the King of Benin, gifts in exchange for slaves ( the gifts were cheap and definitely not worth the exchange of a life). In that moment, I realised as a woman of African descent I must learn my history, not from the mouths of Europeans, but I hope to visit many countries in Africa one day. Also the way the painters depicted people of African origin was not pleasing to me.
This is one of the gifts for King Addra, the King of Benin, that never made it to him ( it was intercepted by people fighting against the slave trade), this gift is cheaply made and it has no real diamonds etc.
As I continued the tour of the museum, I learned of how people live in Amsterdam, and how they would throw their “poo”, imagine their “poo” into the canal, this must have contributed to disease spread, as we can now see from the Coronavirus, Cov-19 where it has reached epidemic or pandemic proportions because of unhygienic circumstances.
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How the Dutch lived in those times
Also, it was interesting to see from that time period, how boys and girls used to dress similarly until the age of 7 and also the many different types of ceramics. I saw the famous painting the “milk lady” and the “Night Watch” ( which is currently under restoration).
The milk lady and the NightWatch paintings.
I also got to visit the library.
Overall Rijksmuseum is definitely worth the visit, make sure you have enough time to fully experience the museum :-)
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