Museum De Lakenhal is the city museum of

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

and history in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. One highlight is its collection of

fijnschilder {{Short description, 17th-century Dutch artistic movement The Fijnschilders (literally "fine-painters"), also called the Leiden Fijnschilders ('Leidse Fijnschilders'), were Dutch Golden Age painters who, from about 1630 to 1710, strove to create as ...

paintings from the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and art and ...

. Just like the city, the museum combines a classical appearance with a contemporary character. The broad collection ranges from early works by Rembrandt van Rijn and Lucas van Leyden's Last Judgement to modern classics of De Stijl and artworks created by contemporary artists such as Claudy Jongstra, Atelier van Lieshout and many others.

History of the building

The museum building was erected in 1640 by Arent van 'Gravesande as a cloth hall ''(lakenhal in Dutch)'' – a

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometim ...

hall for cloth merchants. The museum was founded in 1874 as a ''stedelijk'' museum (municipal museum.) Susanna van Steenwijk - Lakenhal 1642

Collections

Like other municipal museums in the Netherlands, it became a repository for municipal art collections. Artifacts from Leiden are on display such as a series of stained glass windows by

Willem Thibaut Willem Thibaut, Tybaut, or Tibout (1524–1597), was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography According to the RKD, Thibaut lived and worked in Haarlem, but made the cartoons for the two stained-glass windows in Sint Janskerk in 1570. According ...

commissioned for the Leiden city hall, are now installed in the stairwells. On permanent display is also the old inspection room or ''Staalmeesterskamer'' where cloth was inspected and the meeting hall where disputes were decided. Four large paintings depicting the cloth industry by Isaac van Swanenburg hang in the same spots on the walls as designed. Similarly, a very grand over-the-mantel piece by

Carel de Moor Carel de Moor (25 February 1655 – 16 February 1738) was a Dutch Golden Age etcher and painter. He was a pupil of Gerard Dou. Biography Carel de Moor was born in Leiden. According to Houbraken, his father was an art dealer who wanted him to s ...

shows the inspectors in a massive wooden frame decorated with their family shields, flanked by a series of three historical allegories of the city of Leiden by Abraham Lambertsz van den Tempel. The museum hosts a collection of

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting ...

s and religious artifacts from before the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

that were formally ceded to the state in 1572. The museum also includes a reconstructed ''statie'' or Catholic

mission station A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

from after the Reformation. Because the Catholic religion was banned, there was no official church and all of the Catholic places of worship in the young Dutch Republic were called mission stations. These were semi-hidden churches that were tolerated and taxed by the state. The collection also includes ''A Pedlar Selling Spectacles (Allegory of Sight)'', one of a series of five, '' The Senses'', by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...

. The museum was closed for restoration and expansion from 2016 to 2019. On its reopening in June 2019, and until February 2020, the museum had on display a newly identified painting by Rembrandt, ''

Suffer little children to come unto me ''Suffer little children to come unto me'' or ''Let the Little Children Come to Me'', is a painting attributed to the Dutch painter Rembrandt. The subject of the portrait is the teaching of Jesus about little children and it is estimated that Re ...

'', showing Jesus preaching. Newly discovered Rembrandt will be shown first at Museum De Lakenhal
/ref>

References

External links

Museum website

Gallery

File:ErfgoedLeiden LEI001013142 Gezicht op de Lakenhal aan de Oude Singel.jpeg, the Lakenhal Museum (19th century) File:ErfgoedLeiden LEI001013143 Gezicht op de toegang tot de Lakenhal aan de Oude Singel.jpeg, Entrance to the museum (19th century) File:ErfgoedLeiden LEI001015544 Lakenhal aan de Oude Singel in Leiden.jpeg, Lakenhal (19th century) {{Authority control 1874 establishments in the Netherlands Art museums and galleries in the Netherlands Museums established in 1874 Museums in Leiden