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The Art Gallery of Jan…
Adriaan de Lelie, 1794 - 1795, painting, SK-A-4100
In 1792, Gildemeester, a merchant, turned two large rooms at his house on Amsterdam’s Herengracht into an art gallery. Here he stands proudly at the centre of the front room, speaking with one of his guests. Visitors are examining famous paintings, including a Rembrandt - above Gildemeester’s head.…
On display in room 1.10
A Mother Delousing her Child’s…
Pieter de Hooch, c. 1660 - c. 1661, painting, SK-C-149
A mother is inspecting her child’s hair for lice. They are in a sober Dutch interior, with Delft blue tiles and a bedstead. The chair on the right is a children’s toilet, with a built-in chamber pot. Through the door we see the back room, and catch a glimpse of the garden. These views into the…
A Pelican and other Birds near a…
Melchior d'Hondecoeter, c. 1680, painting, SK-A-175
Melchior d’Hondecoeter specialised in depicting birds. Here he painted a pelican, various ducks, a cassowary (left), a flamingo and an African crested crane. D’Hondecoeter was commissioned to paint the work by Stadholder William III and his wife Mary. It was intended for Het Loo palace, where…
On display in room 2.22
Floral Still Life
Hans Bollongier, 1639, painting, SK-A-799
While this ample bouquet appears quite natural, tulips, anemones, roses and carnations all have different seasons. Yet Bollongier combined them into a harmonious composition. This still life was painted following the financial collapse of 1637, when many lost their fortunes speculating in tulip…
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
Woman Reading a Letter
Johannes Vermeer, c. 1663, painting, SK-C-251
In a quiet, private moment, a young woman stands, engrossed in reading a letter. It is morning, and she is still wearing her blue nightrobe. All the other colours are subordinate to its radiant lapis lazuli; yellow and red hardly make an appearance. Vermeer rendered the different effects of the cool…
On display in Gallery of Honour
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
River Landscape with Riders
Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1653 - 1657, painting, SK-A-4118
Travellers are resting their horses in a sun-soaked river landscape. To judge from their orange shawls, they seem to be Dutch army officers. Cuyp saw these steep hills when he travelled along the River Rhine between Nijmegen and Cleves. It was probably the sketches he drew there that formed the…
On display in Gallery of Honour
View of Houses in Delft, Known as…
Johannes Vermeer, c. 1658, painting, SK-A-2860
An unusual painting in Vermeer’s oeuvre: a few houses and a couple of people in a quiet street. Vermeer gave the scene a palpable sense of tension and balance. The old walls, worn bricks and white plaster are almost tangible. What part of Delft this shows is no longer known.
On display in Gallery of Honour
The Well-stocked Kitchen, with…
Joachim Bueckelaer, 1566, painting, SK-A-1451
It is not the profusion of vegetables, fruit, meat, poultry and kitchenware displayed here by these housemaids that forms the main theme of this painting. It is Jesus visiting Mary and Martha, shown almost as an aside in the distance. The contrast between foreground and background contains the moral…
On display in room 0.6