Museum Day 1

Today was a the first big day of museums. We visited the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Coster Diamonte Museum. We  dined on Indonesian food at Sama Sebo and spent some lovely time in Vondelpark.

Rijksmuseum

Recently completely renovated, the museum has 80 halls and displays 8,000 pieces of art and history. Much like the Louvre in Paris, it is really tough to see EVERYTHING. This is the home of Rembrandt's "Night Watch" (1692).

 I learned that real title of the painting is "Archers under the Command of Captain Frans Banning Cocq". The "Night Watch" title was added later when it was assumed to be painted to reflect a night scene. Actually the painting just needed to be restored and cleaned. But the name stuck.

Another painting I liked was "Battle at Waterloo" (1824) by Jan Willem Pieneman. It's the largest in the Museum. As you might imagine, there are tons of soldiers in the painting. The Duke of Wellington is on horseback in the middle. On the opposite wall is an identical portrait (head shot)of the same man. It's like a photocopy. Interesting. Maybe the portrait had to be pre-approved, and then it was repainted into the larger painting?

The Five Javanese Court Officials (1820-1850). Note: We live on Java so I found these really interesting. These are not actual portraits but "types" with accurate garments and batik motifs which indicate origin, rank and status. Most likely these were not painted by a Western artist. At that time, paintings like this done by Westerners would have been portrayed in a more negative tone.

I also really liked a diamond on display at the Museum—and I'm not a diamond lover. However,  this is a 36 carat rectangular diamond. The original 70 carat diamond once belonged to Sultan Penembahan Adam van Banjarmasin (South Borneo). The Netherlands seized the Sultanate in 1859 and declared the diamond Dutch property. No one seemed to want to have it at 70 carats so tt was later cut down to the 36 carat stone. Still, no one seemed to want to own it. In person, it is a gorgeous stone.

 The signage under this display explains all.

Still Life with Flowers in a Greek Vase: Allegory of Spring. Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os (1817). This was a spectacular still life. It's hard to walk away. It's like it's alive!

This Three-door cabinet(1835-1838) is covered with all sorts of polished inlaid stones. There were many pieces of furniture done in the same technique. This cabinet once belonged to King William II.

Diamonte Museum
This is a small museum attached to the Coster Diamond Company where they sell diamonds. The museum had some genuine stones, but many of the "good" ones wee copies. I certainly would have preferred to see the real ones, but I'm sure they are in vaults somewhere.


Van Gogh Museum
Here is where you find the largest Van Gogh collection in the world.- the most visitors, too. The place was packed.  There are also works of art by artists other than Van Gogh in the Van Gogh Museum. This one is entitled, "Field with Irises near Arles" (1888), Van Gogh.

The museum staircase. Impossible not to know what floor you are on.

Vondelpark
This is a beautiful park.  Birds we are certain we saw : grey heron, blue heron, moorhen, common coot, Egyptian goose, wood pigeons, common magpie. There are approximately 120 bird species in the Park including rose-ringed parakeets and a couple of woodpecker species. We didn't see these species. We walked off our lunch—well, we tried. Enjoyed tons of birds and plants.

Hey, Dan: "Packer Nature?"