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Portrait of a Member of the Van der…
Cornelis Troost, 1736, painting, SK-A-3948
The portrait conveys a sense of convivial hospitality, as if the man were inviting us into his home to enjoy his art and music. In a typically 18th-century way, the portrait has no sense of distance, of authority. It introduces us directly to the open personality of this enthusiastic young member of…
On display in room 1.1
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
Lidded ewer
Adam van Vianen (I), 1614, BK-1976-75
On display in room 2.1
Shiva Nataraja
anonymous, c. 1100 - c. 1200, sculpture, AK-MAK-187
Shiva is depicted here as Nataraja (Lord of the Dance), standing in a ring of fire in the anandatandava position. He is both the creator and destroyer of the world. He is standing on a dwarf, symbolising ignorance. Richly decorated bronze statues of Hindu gods like this are carried in processions…
On display in Philips wing, room 1.3
Guanyin
anonymous, c. 1100 - c. 1200, sculpture, AK-MAK-84
The Buddhist deity Guanyin, who rescues people in need, is shown here meditating, seated on a rock. According to legend, he was once discovered in this position, meditating on the moon’s reflection in the water - in Buddhism a symbol of illusion and transience. His pose and facial expression embody…
On display in Asian pavilion, room 2
The bodhisattva Manjushri
anonymous, c. 800 - c. 900, sculpture, AK-MAK-240
In China, Manjushri is venerated as one of the first advocates of Buddhism. On Java he appears as a young man wearing straps of jewellery across his chest. This Manjushri is probably gesturing the turning of the wheel of wisdom: this symbolises the start of the Buddhist cycle of learning and the…
On display in Asian pavilion, room 1
Portraits of Giuliano and Francesco…
Piero di Cosimo, 1482 - 1485, painting, SK-C-1367
This diptych shows a leading Florentine architect, Giuliano da Sangallo with his late father Francesco, also an architect and a musician. These are early examples of portraits in which the subject’s profession plays a key role. Here a pen and dividers suggest architecture, a melody in note form…
On display in room 0.5
Mary Magdalene
Jan van Scorel, c. 1530, painting, SK-A-372
The woman is Mary Magdalen. A jar of ointment is her usual attribute, with which she is said to have tended Jesus’s feet. Van Scorel portrayed her as a seductive, lavishly dressed courtesan, a reference to her apparent origins as a prostitute. Her costume shows the influence of Italian painting on…
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
Self-portrait as the Apostle Paul
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1661, painting, SK-A-4050
Here, Rembrandt is about 55. In this portrait he represents St Paul, the apostle, identified by his usual attributes: a manuscript and a sword, of which the hilt extends from under the cloak. The self portrait is typical of Rembrandt’s late style of painting: he used the paint structure in the…
On display in Gallery of Honour