Rijksmuseum Amsterdam - Paintings [antikvár]

The présent Rijksmuseum was opened on 13 July, 1885. In 1862 a commission had already been appointed to develop plans for building a new muséum. A compétition for a design was announced, which specified that the muséum had to house a historical department in addition to the various art collections. The Netherlands had regained their independence at the end of the French occupation in 1813 and the Prince of Orange had been proclaimed king. It was propo-sed to commemorate these events by a display of portraits and sculptures in a large hall or gallery. The building was expected to conform with and to empha-size the style of the i6th- and I7th-century masterpieces. P.J.H.Cuypers (1827-1921), who finally became the architect after a great deal of controversy, was a great admirer of Gothic art. Many people, however, especially in the North, did not consider this a représentative national style. Cuypers's first design was decid-edly neo-Gothic, but with the views of his patrons in mind he also provided a second design for the façade, which showed more Renaissance elements. In 1876 Cuypers was definitely appointed. As a resuit of his own development and his study of other muséums, but mainly because of changes in the spécifications, the necessity of a larger building, for instance, many altérations and improve-ments were introduced into the original design. Cuypers projected the galleries around two courtyards, a plan similar to that used by Jacob van Campen in the I7th century for the new Town Hall, now the Palace on the Dam. There is not much to be seen to-day of this plan. To cope with the tremendous expansion after 194$ of the Decorative-Arts Department, the existing rooms were extended by galleries erected on the site of the courtyard in the right wing, forming a building within a building, as it were. Admirable as Cuypers's architecture may be, new ideas on arrangement, hanging and lighting must be considered, while the collection of course continues to expand. As it is desirable that the important pieces in the national collection be concentrated in one point, and as it is practic-ally impossible to extend the building on the outside, extension has been sought ¦within its walls. The Historical Department re-opencd in 1972 011 the site of the second courtyard; the picture galleries will also be extended and a separate gallery will be reserved for exhibitions. Much of the interior décoration has been removed where modem demands require uninterrupted wall-space with no obtrusive omaments. But the character of the building as a whole has remained unchanged and the façades will not be altered. The site of the muséum, then on the border of a new urban development, led the city council to propose the construction of a through-way under the muséum to connect the new upper middle-class residential area with the centre of the town. Cuypers was then faced with the problem of altering his originally planned monumental entrance in such a way that the central façade would retain its monumental character despite the