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Cabinet of a Militia Company
anonymous, c. 1520 - c. 1530, furniture, BK-KOG-656
On display in room 0.4
Interior of the Sint-Odulphuskerk…
Pieter Jansz Saenredam, 1649, painting, SK-C-217
Once a Catholic church, St Odulphus’s passed into Protestant hands at the start of the Dutch Revolt against Spain. The artist shows a service taking place. Worshippers are listening to the preacher on the right in the pulpit. Sermons are the main feature of a Protestant service. Saenredam came…
On display in room 2.14
Chest with nine bottles
anonymous, c. 1680 - c. 1700, chest, NG-444
The box was probably made in Batavia (Jakarta). The bottles are from Japan. They would have been used for expensive spice oils to prepare food, perfumes or medicines. Representatives of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) would present these as gifts to Asian potentates.
On display in room 2.9
Roemer with a poem to Constantijn…
anonymous, 1619, BK-1983-15
Anna Roemers Visscher engraved one of her own poems in a wineglass as a gift for Constantijn Huygens. The verse contains a complaint and an exhortation: her pen has dried up, her brain has rusted. She asks Huygens to fetch her some water from the Helicon – where the Muses live – so her ink will flow…
On display in room 2.8
Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters
Hendrick Avercamp, c. 1608, painting, SK-A-1718
Hendrick Avercamp turned the winter landscape into a subject in its own right. A typical feature of his early work is the high horizon. This enabled Avercamp to focus on the dozens of figures on the ice. He showed all kinds of uncouth details in this bird’s-eye view, including couples making love…
On display in room 2.6
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 Seven Works of Mercy
Master of Alkmaar, 1504, painting, SK-A-2815
A town in Holland is the setting for a narrative strip showing how a good Christian should help the needy. In almost all the scenes, Christ appears among the onlookers. The scenes give a sense of town life around 1500. This is one of the many art works severely damaged when Protestants cleansed…
On display in room 0.4
Still Life with a Gilt Cup
Willem Claesz Heda, 1635, painting, SK-A-4830
In forty years, Willem Heda only ever painted still lifes. His paintings differ from the still lifes of his contemporaries: the colours are gentler, cooler and more harmonious. The bright yellow lemon peel is the only colour accent. In this work, Heda shows his skill in rendering different…
On display in Gallery of Honour
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
Portraits of Giuliano and Francesco…
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