Rembrandt House Museum

Rembrandt House Museum, Dutch Museum het Rembrandthuis, museum in Amsterdam dedicated to the life and work of Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn.

The Rembrandt House Museum is located in the house where Rembrandt lived from 1639 to 1658. The building was constructed in 1606–07, and Rembrandt purchased it in 1639. Financial troubles forced Rembrandt into bankruptcy, and the house was eventually auctioned off to pay his creditors. After the sale the house was divided in two and over the centuries was occupied by several families. It continued to be a residence until 1907, when the city of Amsterdam purchased the dilapidated building. After a major restoration by the architect K.P.C. de Bazel, Queen Wilhelmina officially opened the Rembrandt House Museum in 1911. In 1998 the museum added a new wing with additional exhibition space. Following the opening of the new wing, the board of trustees for the museum decided to restore the original building to its condition during Rembrandt’s occupancy. Building historian Henk Zantkuijl and architect Maarten Neerincx supervised this renovation, making use of the inventories taken during Rembrandt’s bankruptcy, as well as Rembrandt’s drawings and etchings. This renovation was completed, and the museum reopened in 1999.

The layout of the house is typical for the period in which it was built, and its restoration is extraordinarily faithful to the original. Of great interest to the contemporary visitor are Rembrandt’s bedroom, with its small bed; his large studio, in which many of his well-known works were painted, and his cabinet, in which are stored many of the natural and man-made objects and curiosities that appear in Rembrandt’s works (see Rembrandt’s collecting).

The Rembrandt House Museum’s collection has grown through donations from private collectors and through auction purchases. Slowly, the museum has amassed a nearly complete collection of Rembrandt’s graphic work. In addition to Rembrandt’s work, the museum owns a small collection of paintings by Rembrandt’s contemporaries, including his teachers and pupils. In its new wing the museum operates a small research library devoted to Rembrandt.