Come up and see his etchings (Rembrandt House)

Member Name: x_elff_x

Product:	Rembrandt House
Date:	21/01/01 (106 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Not too big, great museum/history lesson combination

Disadvantages: Still undergoing some rennovation

With its liberal laws on drugs and sex, Amsterdam attracts thousands of visitors from the British isles every month. Many on weekend trips (no pun intended) to sample the atomosphere. But even if you are a die-hard coffee-shop smoker, there is so much culture on offer that most people are tempted to dip their toe in the art waters at some point - and I imagine it beats the canal.

Of all the places I have visited in Amsterdam, and I have been on several occasions - one has to keep checking the quality of the beer you know - by far my most favourite place to visit has to be Rembrandt's Huis.

This lesser-visited museum is exactly what it says it is - Rembrandt's former home, and one that cost him dearly - but it is also home to an absorbing and almost complete collection of Rembrandt etchings which are worth the admission fee on their own.

The fascinating thing about visiting this three-storey house, is that you get to see both the work of the master himself and a get feel for where he lived and worked.

Rembrandt bought the house in 1639 and it marked the beginnings of his financial downfall in 1658. For the cost of buying and furnishing the house proved more than he could bear and he was ultimately declared insolvent and forced to sell it and most of its contents to meet his debts.

Since I visited last, the house has been undergoing a gradual transformation. Room by room the owners have been restoring it to its former glory. This task has been made somewhat easier by the fact that Rembrandt was declared insolvent, as a total inventory of the house was taken at the time, meaning that the restorators have been able to accurately recreate his house as he knew it.

But enough of the history. What is the house like to visit? In short I found it to be a manageable, fascinating and educational visit. As you wander through Rembrandt's rooms you get a real feel for the artist who lived there. Particularly when yo
u reach the attic studio, where Rembrandt taught his pupils. You feel as if you could open the window and watch 17th century life walk by.

All the rooms contain pots of information, both about the man himself and about the furniture they have used to recreate the scene. All of this information is present in English as well as Dutch meaning that you don't miss out.

By far the best bit of the tour for me though were the etchings themselves. This house holds a whopping 250 prints out of the 280 that he made, so it is certainly comprehensive.

There is something particularly wonderful to me about etchings. I love the intricate detail that they are able to go into and the way the scratches on the original plates are used to create atmosphere and distinguish between light and dark.

Elsewhere in the museum there is an explanation of the etching process, but while interesting, I think it is possible to over-analyse these things and nothing can beat actually seeing the finished product in all its glory.

The etchings are lovingly displayed in special conditions in a slightly darkened room, but for me that just adds to the viewing experience - after all if you're going to go up and see someone's etchings what better time to do it than in semi-darkness?

At the end of the tour - which will take you less than a couple of hours, thankfully negating the museum fatigue that I find strikes me in larger galleries such as The Rijksmuseum - do make sure you pay a visit to the shop. Stocked with the usual range of postcards, chocolate and assorted tat, it also offers the opportunity to take home your very own Rembrandt etching.

No, really, I did. They have, through the wonders of modern science, been able to copy his original etching plates exactly and you can by a print taken from one of these. Because it is an etching you truly feel you are getting the real McCoy... my Rembradt self-portrait gives me great plea
sure every time I walk passed it in the lounge and it only cost me 15 quid.

All in all this is a must see for me in Amsterdam, and with plenty of bars round about, you can always say you stumbled across it while on a pub crawl!

Canvassing Details
Museum Het Rembrandtshuis is at Jodenbreestraat 4, 1011 NK Amsterdam.
It is open 10am-5pm Monday to Saturday, and 1-5pm on Sundays. Entrance is 12.50 Guilders (around £3.) for adults, with children under six going free and those between 6-12 years paying the incredibly reasonable sum of £2.50 guilders (about 70p).

The museum has a very comprehensive and easy to navigate webiste at http://www.rembrandthuis.nl.

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