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The Holy Kinship
Geertgen tot Sint Jans (workshop of), c. 1495, painting, SK-A-500
Christ’s family is gathered together in this fictional medieval church: the Holy Family, known in Dutch as the holy ‘maagschap’, an old word for kinship. Left, in a blue robe, the Virgin Mary is seated with Jesus, and alongside, her mother Anna. Behind are the two husbands: Joseph and Joachim.…
On display in room 0.1
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
Giuliano & Francesco Giamberti da…
Piero di Cosimo, 1482 - 1485, painting, SK-C-1368
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
The Night Watch Militia Company of…
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1642, painting, SK-C-5
Rembrandt’s largest, most famous canvas was made for the Arquebusiers guild hall. This was one of several halls of Amsterdam’s civic guard, the city’s militia and police. Rembrandt was the first to paint figures in a group portrait actually doing something. The captain, dressed in black, is…
On display in Nightwatch gallery
Gallant Conversation, Known as ‘The…
Gerard ter Borch (II), c. 1654, painting, SK-A-404
A man of the world, a soldier perhaps, is looking admiringly at the young woman in the splendid satin dress. They were once thought to be father and daughter. But perhaps the man is the woman’s suitor, and the older woman is a chaperone. The young woman’s pose, standing with her back to the viewer,…
On display in room 2.25
The Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede
Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael, c. 1668 - c. 1670, painting, SK-C-211
Viewed from a low perspective, the mill contrasts majestically against the dark sky. The buildings further in the distance are the castle and St Maarten’s church at Wijk bij Duurstede, a major city in the Golden Age. The river in the foreground is the Lek. This is the epitome of a Dutch landscape:…
On display in Gallery of Honour
Isaac and Rebecca, Known as ‘The…
Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1665 - c. 1669, painting, SK-C-216
It seems that Rembrandt painted his subjects as the biblical couple, Isaac and Rebecca. Its popular name, the Jewish Bride, is a later invention. The portrait is painted with an extraordinarily free hand, as in the sleeve, where the paint is especially thick and shaped to reflect the light.
On display in Gallery of Honour
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…
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
Italian Landscape with a…
Jan Both, c. 1650 - 1652, painting, SK-C-109
An artist has found a place to sketch by a wood, near a waterfall – perhaps it is Both himself. Travellers with heavy-laden mules are walking towards a plain bathed in Italian sun. Both was clearly fascinated by the Mediterranean light and stayed in Rome for a long time. Back in the Netherlands, he…
On display in room 2.17