My adventure today started with navigating the tram system in Amsterdam. Thank goodness for Toby or I might have ended up in Denmark. We found our way through the quaint streets, over bridges, crossing many canals to the wonderful Rembrandt House. Here we each bought a Museum Card which will get you into all the major attractions at substantial savings over individual admissions. The self- guided tour was so interesting. We started touring in the basement in the kitchen. I loved the pottery throughout the room! We moved up to the main floor where the entry to the home is located.
Rembrandt was a salesman and this is where he would display and sell his art and the art of his students. There was also the anteroom he filled with art he sold too. Artists of this time were very busy and Rembrandt was the Master. He became very wealthy and bought this home. He was a great collector of novelties that he stuffed into his attic. Rembrandt lived in this home over 20 years and lost it due to his wild spending. It seems that he was obsessed with collecting - maybe a latter day hoarder. Many pieces in his collection ended up as props in his artworks. His bedroom/living room was also located on this level.
Up the very tight little spiral staircase we climbed to the studio, press room, and collection of props. The studio was staged much like it looked in the time Rembrandt. The curators used some of his etchings depicting his studio to recreate the Master's workplace. In the center of the house was a wooden printing press and some examples of Rembrandt's work. I found the last room on this floor the most fascinating. The room was filled with some of the objects Rembrandt collected including alligators, seashells, turtles, beautiful books created by many his fellow artists, armor and even an armadillo. It was truly amazing and humorous.
Toby and I watched as a docent demonstrated how paints were made in the 17th century. The color palette was made mostly earth tones because those colors were inexpensive. Of course, many of the metal alloys they used for brighter colors were more expensive and very toxic. The artist had his apprentices mix the paints and then grind them together with stones so the pigments won't separate from the linseed oil. If light colors were used the artist would mix the colors with walnut oil because it has a clearer tone. The artists often stored the paint in pigs bladders and floated them in water until they were needed. When the color was to be used, it was pricked with a nail and squeezed out. This was a precursor to the paint tube. When finished, the paint was sealed up with sealing wax and returned to the water.
Ascending to the top floor, we found a studio classroom and a display of Rembrandt's masterful etchings and dry points. Many of these etchings were hardly bigger than a postage stamp yet were so beautifully executed. I think these must have been more difficult to create than larger works. The detail is just mind numbing! I feel the presence of greatness at this point in my tour. How could a mere human being create such incredible work! Truly inspiring...
Then it is time for lunch and processing all we had seen. It was a gorgeous day and we sat at the Rembrandt Cafe and had a real Dutch lunch of croquettes and french fries. Moving on to the city center we found our way to Dam Square. Then to the Oude Kirk where Rembrandt was entombed in an unmarked space. I suppose when he went bankrupt they decided to bury him anonymously but I don't really know. His wife and son were buried there but in marked tombs. It was a beautiful old church with one of the largest most ornate pipe organs I have ever seen...
Looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings..... The Rijksmuseum.....
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