Search in Rijksstudio
The Battle of Waterloo
Jan Willem Pieneman, 1824, painting, SK-A-1115
Emperor Napoleon met his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This painting – the largest at the Rijksmuseum – shows the moment when the tide turned: the British general Wellington hears that the Prussian army is approaching. Victory, and an end to twenty years of war, is at hand. The…
On display in room 1.12
The Singel Bridge at the…
George Hendrik Breitner, 1898, painting, SK-A-3580
Breitner often took photos when preparing a painting. Several preparatory photos for this painting are also known. The way the woman is walking directly towards us and the way the picture is cropped gives it a photographic feel. Originally, Breitner’s subject was a maid, but following the negative…
On display in room 1.18
A Windmill on a Polder Waterway,…
Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël, c. 1889, painting, SK-A-1505
‘Our country is colourful, juicy, fat. (...) I repeat, our country is not dull, not even in dull weather, the dunes are not dull either’, Constant Gabriël wrote in a letter. Unlike many artists of the Hague School, he preferred painting fine summer days. Here there are two: the grass, sky and…
On display in room 1.18
Children of the Sea
Jozef Israëls, 1872, painting, SK-A-2382
This delightful scene contains a moral. These children from a poor fishing village with their shabby clothes and broken toys, are playing out their own future. The oldest boy carries the burden of his family on his shoulders, while the boat represents the harsh life at sea. Jozef Israëls first…
On display in room 1.18
Javanese Court Officials
anonymous, c. 1820 - c. 1870, painting, NG-2010-39
Clothes make the man, so too in Indonesia. These are not actual portraits, but types. In addition to revealing the region these men come from, the meticulously painted clothes and batik motifs also provide information about their rank and status. These proud, confident figures are unusual: in…
On display in room 1.17
Javaanse hoffunctionarissen
anonymous, c. 1820 - c. 1870, painting, NG-2010-38
Clothes make the man, so too in Indonesia. These are not actual portraits, but types. In addition to revealing the region these men come from, the meticulously painted clothes and batik motifs also provide information about their rank and status. These proud, confident figures are unusual: in…
On display in room 1.17
Diorama of a Du, Dance Celebration…
Gerrit Schouten, 1830, NG-2005-24
The scene in the dance tent is a ‘du’, a role-play event with music and dancing, held once every year on the plantations. Both players and audience were slaves. The main character was the ‘Afrankeri’, the narrator, left. The man in the red suit on the right is playing the king. Europeans in Suriname…
On display in room 1.17
Javaanse hoffunctionarissen
anonymous, c. 1820 - c. 1870, painting, NG-2010-41
Clothes make the man, so too in Indonesia. These are not actual portraits, but types. In addition to revealing the region these men come from, the meticulously painted clothes and batik motifs also provide information about their rank and status. These proud, confident figures are unusual: in…
On display in room 1.17
Silver cabinet
Jan Adolf Hillebrand, 1844, BK-R-4927
As a young cabinetmaker, Hillebrand presented this neo-Gothic showpiece at an industrial exhibition in Leeuwarden in 1844. His ambition was rewarded. King Willem II bought the silver cabinet, having acquired a taste for Gothic art as a student in England. Different Gothic elements are ingeniously…
On display in room 1.15
Piano Practice Interrupted
Willem Bartel van der Kooi, 1813, painting, SK-A-1065
A native of Friesland, artist Van der Kooi specialised in painting children. The children in this painting are shown in a playful, spontaneous pose. It could almost be a snapshot. Yet appearances are deceptive. The artist arranged the children deliberately to form a triangular composition. And we no…
On display in room 1.12