Meanwhile, over at the Rijks Museum

[fbhjr]

Having looked through the Van Gogh museum, I set my eyes on the Rijks museum across the park.


I'm not sure how this is pronounced in Dutch. But, it almost looks like the Hard Rock Cafe is near Led Zeppelin...


Why is there a teepee in the park in Amsterdam?


I followed the school group to find the entrance to the museum as it wasn't clear to me where it is. It turns out the entrance is under the center of the building.

(The school group stopped to remind the students of the rules, and I cut ahead and went in before them.)

Apparently some of the financing for this museum comes from a "lottery for culture" in the Netherlands.
A box full of Euros could be a good amount of culture...


Yeah, they had some daggers. Who doesn't?


But, how many places have carved elk antler shields that may be from Charlemagne?


They have unicorn horns on display.


That's some cannon...


The museum is over 5 floors. Some areas you have to go down, across and back up. So, lots of stairs.


These are the kind of paintings I normally like.

And, there is even a nice sword in it.




My wife would have liked this room.

And, this one.


This is theoretically the rock that King William stepped on getting off the boat when taking over England.

I wonder who got the thought to grab the rock on which the king tripped and put it in a box...

OK, OK. Art museums. Look! A bench!


One of the most famous paintings there is "The Night Watch".
Lots of people want to see it.


It is a nice painting. And, I'll see it in 3D later that day....


This is William of Orange. The guy who led the rebellion against Spain.
Also, one of the first heads of state assassinated with a gun.


I've always like pocket watches and they have quite a collection.

Not all of them would fit in my pocket.


They had a room dedicated to magic lantern slides.


Some of them looked a lot like some of our fight books.


But, I was tired and hungry, so I fled the museum.

Comments

[jenny_evergreen]

That shield is amazing!

Thanks for sharing! :)

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

Awesome!!

Incidentally, I happened to be studying and sketching some of Dirck Hals' paintings at the Worcester Art Museum yesterday
so it was neat seeing his other work that you came across.

Glad you got to see the Nightwatch and able to take a good photo of it.

[endlessblush.livejournal.com]

How fantastic! Thanks for taking me to the museum with you :)

[chris-warrior.livejournal.com]

ok, that shield forced me to rethink bone as a viable weapon option. and yet, probably VERY heavy. the unicorn horns kind of made me sad, even if they are narwhale teeth.

and now you have a Danish bench to add to your collection! almost an IKEA moment... ;)

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

They did say it was an ornamental weapon. I'm sure it could be used in a pinch, but might be fragile.

[chris-warrior.livejournal.com]

ah, "ornamental" as in "not functional" (rather than "ornamented") makes more sense; i'd think bone would be heavy and yet brittle once it dried out. still, it's lovely in a really macabre way.