One of the world’s great museums, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, reopened its doors today after 10 years of renovations.
The museum’s centerpiece, Rembrandt’s monumental work Officers and other civic guardsmen of District II of Amsterdam, under the command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq andLieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch, known as the ‘Night Watch’ (above, second down), remains in its original position; every other aspect of the museum and the presentation of its collection has been redesigned.
There is an article on the restoration on the Museum’s recently redone website (which I wrote about last September), along with a video and photos.
In addition there is a documentary on YouTube, a video of the opening celebration on NOS, an article and slideshow on CNN and a slideshow on Guardian, along with an article on the rethinking of the galleries, and a video of a flashmob recreation of “Night Watch” in a Dutch shopping center.
Those of us who can’t easily visit the renovated museum in person can enjoy highlights from the museum’s collection in high resolution on their website.
(Images above: renovated hall, Rembrandt van Rijn, Pieter Claesz, Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals, Pieter de Hooch, Gabriël Metsu, Rembrandt van Rijn)
[Thanks to “Ælle Ayres” for links and updates.]
