The Milkmaid by Vermeer, one of the outstanding works in the collection.
THE Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam – which houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Vermeer, Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age – re-opens to the public today. It follows ten years of closure. Renovation took five years longer than expected .
Masterpieces are displayed in a sequence of 80 galleries in a new presentation which fuses art and crafts chronologically. Art is displayed alongside objects like glass, porcelain and furniture that was around when the work was created to illustrate the cross-pollination between decorative and visual arts.
The renovation cost 375 million euro. Changes include a new entrance, an Asia Pavilion, and two vast courtyards with light from above. . The museum is expected to attract up to two million visitors annually and will be open 365 days a year.