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The Rijksmuseum (IPA: [rɛiks-mjuˈziːəm]; Dutch for National Museum) is a national museum of the Netherlands, located in Amsterdam on the Museumplein. The Rijksmuseum is dedicated to arts, crafts and history. It has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of Asian art.

The Rijksmuseum Research Library is part of the Rijksmuseum, and is the largest public art history research library in the The Netherlands.

The museum was founded in 1800 in The Hague to exhibit the collections of the Dutch stadtholders. It was inspired by the French example. By then it was known as the National Art Gallery (Dutch: Nationale Kunst-Gallerij). In 1808 the museum moved to Amsterdam on the orders of king Louis Napoleon, brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. The paintings owned by that city, such as The Night Watch (Dutch: De nachtwacht) by Rembrandt, became part of the collection.

In 1885 the museum moved to its current location, built by Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers. He combined gothic and renaissance elements. The museum has a prominent position on the Museumplein, near the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum. The building is richly decorated with references to the Dutch art history. Rembrandt's The Night Watch has had its own hall in the museum since 1906.

The paintings collection includes works by artists Jacob van Ruysdael, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt and Rembrandt's pupils.

As of 2007, 95% of the museum is closed for restoration and renovation of the building, but paintings from the permanent collection are still on display in a special exhibition called The Masterpieces in the recently renovated Philips wing.

Contents 1 Some of the paintings in the museum 1.1 Rembrandt van Rijn 1.2 Johannes Vermeer 1.3 Frans Hals 2 External links

• The Night Watch
• The Syndics of the Clothmaker's Guild
• The Jewish Bride
• The Anatomical Lesson of Dr. Deyman
• Peter Denying Christ
• Saskia with a Veil
• Portrait of Titus in a Monk Habit
• Self Portrait as the Apostle Paul
• Tobias, Anna and the Goat

• The Milkmaid
• The Love Letter
• Woman in Blue reading a Letter
• The Little Street

• Portrait of a Young Couple
• The Company of Reynier Real
• The Jolly Drinker
• Portrait of Lucas De Clercq
• Portrait of Nicolaes Hasselaer
• Portrait of a Man

Some of the works at the Rijksmuseum:

• Official website (information in six languages)
• Rijksmuseum Research Library
• Official restoration website (Promotion during the Rijksmuseum restoration phase)
• Netherlands, Amsterdam, Rijkmuseum, VR panoramas (external views) by Tolomeus
• Floor Plan of "Philips Wing" (only bit currently open, 8Mbyte PDF)
• Amsterdam: The Rijksmuseum
• Amsterdam Tourist Attractions

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 52.359510° 4.884195°
  • Satellite image from WikiMapia or Google Local
  • Street map from Multimap or GlobalGuide
  • Aerial image from TerraServer