Rijksmuseum

Rijksmuseum

Cruz y Ortiz (Spanish architectural firm, founded 1971)

Petrus Josephus Hubertus Cuypers (Dutch architect, 1827-1921)

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

57.245247

1876-1885 (creation)

2003-2013 (restoration)

19th century

Gothic Revival

Nineteenth century

Renaissance Revival

Dutch

art museum

red brick

stone

iron

glass

glazed ceramic tile

architecture and city planning

art museums, Gothic Revivial

exterior view

exterior view of façade

Museumstraat 1

The Rijksmuseum (translation: State Museum) is the Dutch national museum for arts and history, first founded in 1800 in The Hague

it was moved to Amsterdam in 1808 under King Louis Napoleon. P.J.H. Cuypers is known as ‘the Dutch Viollet-le-Duc’ because he restored numerous medieval buildings and followed the French theorist’s principles of structural rationalism and geometric proportion

he could also be dubbed the Dutch William Morris because of his decisive role in revitalizing the arts and crafts in the Netherlands. For the Rijksmuseum commission (contest 1876), Cuypers created an influential national style by combining such medieval, Renaissance and Baroque motifs as pointed ribbed vaults, round-headed windows and mansard roofs, with modern materials such as iron and glass. The complex decorative program required the talents of a host of artists and artisans working in a variety of media, a consummate example of the 19th century ideal of the Gesamtkunstwerk. On 13 April 2013, after a ten-year renovation which cost € 375 million, the main building was reopened by Queen Beatrix. The restoration restored much of the original Cuypers interior, which had been altered over the years.

© Michael Peters

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Michael Peters