Page 251 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

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VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
Practical Information
Museumstraat 1.
Tel 020-674 7000.
∑ rijksmuseum.nl
Open 9am–5pm daily.
& 8 7 0 - =
Transport
v 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12.
. The Night Watch (1642) 4 Stadhouderskade.
The showpiece of Dutch
17th-century art, this vast canvas by
Rembrandt was commissioned
as a group portrait of an
Amsterdam militia company.
St. Catherine (c.1465)
This sculpture by the Master of
Koudewater shows the saint
Gallery of stam ping on Emperor
Honour Maxentius, who allegedly
killed her with his sword.

Asian
Pavilion

Cuypers Jan Steen’s symbolic Woman at her Toilet, painted
Library around 1660
Genre Painting
For the contemporaries of Jan Steen
(1625–79), this cosy everyday scene
was full of symbols that are obscure to
the modern viewer. The dog on the
pillow may represent fidelity, and the
red stockings the woman’s sexuality;
she is probably a prostitute. Such
genre paintings were often raunchy,
but nearly always had a moral twist –
domestic scenes by artists such as ter
Borch and Honthorst were symbolic of
brothels, while other works illustrated
proverbs. Symbols like candles or skulls
indicated mortality.
Auditorium

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