My favorite part of our trip to Amsterdam was visiting Rembrandt’s House! I’ve studied his work and read so much about Rembrandt, I feel like I’ve been IN that house before and walked the cobblestone streets during his time. Rembrandt lived from 1606 to 1669. One of the best books I’ve read about Rembrandt is “Rembrandt’s Whore: A Novel” by Matton. It specifically tells the story of his life with Hendrickje Stoffels, the much younger woman whom he lived with in the latter part of his life. Long before Rembrandt met Hendrickje, he was married to Saskia who was mother to their one surviving son, Titus.
It was a beautiful experience to walk through Rembrandt’s house, walking in the same hallways as him, standing in his studio. It’s a large house, above his studio (pictured above) he had another studio where he taught his pupils. People came and went all day long, students and patrons alike.
This is the kitchen in Rembrandt’s house. See the tiny bed against the far wall? That’s where the maid slept. And why is it so short? In the 1600’s they believed in sleeping sitting up. So the maid would prop herself up against one of the sides of the bed and fall asleep in the warm kitchen. I can just picture a dog or two curled up in front of that large fireplace!
Okay, there were other things to do in Amsterdam! We went to the (finally) remodeled Rijksmuseum. And the Van Gogh Museum. We wandered about the streets and stopped at cafes along the canals for meals. We drank delicious Belgian beer.
We stayed in a wonderful hotel made of 11 converted canal houses. There were a lot of tourists in the center of Amsterdam but that didn’t stop us from enjoying every minute we were there! No painting though, just lots of looking!
