Name: Rembrandt’s Amsterdam
Start: 2024-11-27
End: 2025-03-23
Location: Städel Museum

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.

Your Visit

Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun 10 am – 6 pm
Thur 10 am – 9 pm
Mon closed
- Opening hours
Entry From €16 / €14, €9 Tue from 3 pm
- Ticket information
Schaumainkai 63, 60596 Frankfurt am Main
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Programme

Discover out-of-the-ordinary museum experiences, special guided tours or individually bookable offers.

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About the Exhibition

The Städel Museum, in collaboration with the Amsterdam Museum, showcases portraits from the Rembrandt period in a major exhibition, with the magnificent group portraits of the Amsterdam Museum taking centre stage. These works are rarely lent out, and this is the first large-scale presentation of them in Germany.

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

Around 100 paintings, sculptures and prints and cultural and historical artefacts from other prominent Dutch and international museums will be on view in Frankfurt, including masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Koninklijk Museum van Schone Kunsten in Antwerp and the Muzeum Narodowe in Warsaw. The exhibition will also feature remarkable works by Rembrandt and his contemporaries from the Städel Museum’s own collection.

The exhibition challenges the traditional view of the 17th century as the Netherlands’ ‘Golden Age’. The economic and cultural prosperity of the Rembrandt era was bolstered by the aggressive trade policies of the United Netherlands, which relied on the establishment of colonies in Asia and South America as well as the enslavement and exploitation of people. As wars, poverty and religious and political persecution swept across Europe, migration to the Dutch Republic—particularly Amsterdam—steadily increased. A robust labour market and an unparalleled degree of religious tolerance attracted many in search for a better and freer life, a goal that some, but by no means all, achieved. It was primarily Amsterdam’s urban elite that commissioned lavish portraits of themselves: members of the civic guards and the craft and trade guilds, as well as the governors of the social institutions supported by civic society. While showcasing these prestigious paintings, the exhibition at the Städel Museum also illuminates the experiences of other social groups. Visitors will encounter images and narratives reflecting a pluralistic Amsterdam society, which tell of wealth and poverty, joy and hardship, power and powerlessness.

Curator Städel Museum
Prof Dr Jochen Sander (Deputy Director and Head of the Collection of Dutch, Flemish and German painting before 1800, Städel Museum)

Project Management
Corinna Gannon (Assistant curator, Dutch, Flemish and German painting before 1800, Städel Museum)

An exhibition of the Städel Museum in collaboration with the Amsterdam Museum

Our exhibition addresses those individuals who were deemed ‘unworthy of portrayal’ at the time and thus left little mark on the tradition of portraiture. The quest to uncover their stories is both overdue and valuable, as it will enhance our understanding of Rembrandt’s Amsterdam.

Jochen Sander, curator of the exhibition, Deputy Director and Head of the collections of Dutch, Flemish and German painting before 1800, Städel Museum

Gallery

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

**Jacob Adriaensz Backer (1608–1651)**
The Regentesses of the Burgerweeshuis, 1633/34

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

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

**Arent de Gelder (1645–1727)**
Self-Portrait as Zeuxis Portraying an Ugly Old Woman, 1685

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606–1669)
Rembrandt, Beggar Seated on a Bank of Earth, 1630

**Arent Arentsz, called Cabel (1585–1631)**
Skaters on the Amstel, ca. 1621

Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem (1622–1683)
Allegory on the Expansion of Amsterdam, ca. 1663

**Unknown Amsterdam artist**
Portrait of ‘Malle Baandje’ (Barend Jansz Bode, 1648–1719?), ca. 1700

**Nicolaes Maes (1634–1693)**
Portrait of a Woman Wearing a Black Dress, ca. 1668–1670

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.
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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 at the start of the exhibition.