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Rembrandt’s Amsterdam
Golden Times?

27 Nov 2024–23 Mar 2025

Wealth and poverty, happiness and ruin, power and powerlessness: the Städel Museum takes an unvarnished look at the social reality of Amsterdam society in the 17th century. Experience Amsterdam on the Main with important works by Rembrandt and his contemporaries.

Your Visit

Programme
for this exhibition

About the Exhibition

Amsterdam—one city with many faces. In the 17th century, Amsterdam was the metropolis in Europe. The economy and trade were booming, the population rapidly increased, and the arts and sciences flourished. An influential civic society shaped the city’s fortunes and glorified itself in splendid group portraits made by the greatest Dutch painters of the age, foremost among them Rembrandt, alongside Jacob Backer, Ferdinand Bol, Govert Flinck, Bartholomeus van der Helst, Nicolaes Eliasz. Pickenoy, and Jan Victors. But Amsterdam’s prosperity came at a price, rooted in colonialist trade policies and a strict social order. The Städel Museum looks back on a supposedly “Golden Age” and, in cooperation with the Amsterdam Museum, presents the portrait art of the Rembrandt period in a major exhibition.

With this exhibition, we are bringing Rembrandt’s Amsterdam to the Städel Museum. By taking a critical look at the realities of 17th-century Amsterdam, we engage with the ongoing discourse surrounding the re-evaluation of the Netherlands’ ‘Golden Age’.

Philipp Demandt, Director, Städel Museum



  • Johannes Lingelbach (1622–1674)
    View of Dam Square with the New Town Hall under Construction, 1656

  • Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy (1588–1650/56) or Werner van den Valckert (attributed)
    The Osteology Lesson of Dr Sebastiaen Egbertsz, 1619

  • Govert Flinck (1615–1660)
    Company of Crossbowmen (Voetboogschutters) under Captain Joan Huydecoper and Lieutenant Frans van Waveren, 1648/50

Digital Offers
for this Exhibition

  • Digitorial
    Discover Rembrandt’s Amsterdam from a new perspective. The free Digitorial offers you fascinating background information on the art and culture of a booming metropolis and its society.

  • Audio Guide App
    Enjoy a tour of the exhibition and discover more about Rembrandt’s Amsterdam and the rapid development of the Dutch metropolis in the 17th century. Available for free in the App Store and Google Play Store.

Tuesday Special

Take advantage of our Tuesday Special and visit the permanent exhibition and all special exhibitions for the single price of €9.

Every Tuesday from 3 to 6 pm.

Sponsors & Patrons

Sponsored by

With additional support from

The upcoming Digitorial® accompanying the exhibition is sponsored by

Media Partner

Süddeutsche Zeitung, ARTE, Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main

Culture Partner

hr2-kultur

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