Where are you travelling this summer? ☀️  Are you heading to Paris this summer, as painted by Johan Barthold Jongkind, or would you rather visit the Belgian town of Dinant, captured by Geo Poggenbeek? These Dutch artists each found beauty in a different place. Which painting would you step into? 🎨

This sculpture by Carel Visser, standing over eight metres tall, is normally an unmissable sight in the Dutch city of Utrecht. The largest sculpture Visser ever created is now temporarily on view in the Rijksmuseum Gardens. 🪴 https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/carel-visser

Lotus flowers and water lilies may not be the first flowers you think of picking this summer, but they look beautiful together. 🪷 The lotus is a symbol of resilience and personal growth, while the water lily represents peace and calm. 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection

What do you think was more expensive: this painting or her outfit? 👗  The answer? Her outfit. Maria van Strijp came from a wealthy Haarlem textile family and knew exactly who to commission for her portrait: Johannes Verspronck. 👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/20015893

Nothing lasts forever, that is the message at the heart of this painting. The skull reminds us of our mortality. The books suggest that even human knowledge is fleeting. And the soap bubble? However beautiful it may be, it lasts only for a moment. 💀📚 👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/20027539

What you wear or how you are photographed: ideas about gender shape daily life and change over time. 🏳️‍🌈 👁️ What do you see when you look at the Rijksmuseum's collection with a gender take? Learn more: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/stories/10-things/story/10-things-point-of-view

Inspired by this natural rhythm, Studio Drift created Shylight: a light sculpture in which five calyxes, crafted from layers of organic silk, gracefully open and close in a shy, mesmerizing dance. ✨ 💮 Studio Drift, Shylight, 2014 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en

The Night Watch Gallery has looked different over the years, which design is your favourite? ✨ 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/stories/operation-night-watch/story/ultra-high-resolution-photo

Can you see how the artists use the colour white in different ways? What is remarkable is that no shade of white is the same. Some tones feel warm and soft, while others are cool and pure. It is the subtle differences that make these details so special. 👀🤍 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection

The angel Gabriel delivers the momentous news to the Virgin that she will conceive a child. The sculptures were created to flank the high altar of the church of San Francesco in Pienza, Tuscany. ⛪ 👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200116144

Van Looij painted this field of clover not only as it looked, but as it felt. An idyllic moment in nature, filled with wonder and nostalgia. The flowers and grass seem so close that it feels as though you have stepped back into the summers of your childhood. 🌾 👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/20028468

Vermeer’s Milkmaid glows with blues, yellows and soft browns. His secret? Hundreds of tiny dots of colour, and his favourite pigment of all: ultramarine, made from lapis lazuli, once more precious than gold. 💙 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/stories/themes/vermeer/story/milkmaid-high-resolution

In 1926, 22-year-old Willem de Kooning left Rotterdam with little in his pocket and crossed the ocean to build a new life in the United States.  👁️ Discover more: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/willem-de-kooning-at-work/story/willem-de-kooning

This jewel was worn on a hat. 👑 Known as an aigrette, jewels like this one were pinned to the hats or hairstyles of noble ladies and gentleman in the 17th century to convey status and elegance.  👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200814866

People have been making music for a very long time, and this is also reflected in art. Music has been an important part of everyday life for centuries and at celebrations. Making music or listening to it together: some things never change. 🎵 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection

On Rembrandt’s 420th birthday, we team up with the Rembrandt House Museum and Amsterdam Museum by looking at one of his most extraordinary works. 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/node/Rembrandt-van-Rijn--ba2dc062acd137ffeac364321b7b10df

The moon slips through the clouds, casting just enough light to reveal a monk deep in meditation beside an overgrown ruin. He has chosen a remarkable place. It is the Abbey of Villers-la-Ville, near Brussels, where the painter lived for a while. 🌝 👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200609468

Flower still lifes were immensely popular in the eighteenth century. They were usually painted against a dark background, but Jan van Huysum took a very different approach. He placed his bouquet in a bright park landscape. 💛 👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200108444

It is crowded in the drawing room of the Amsterdam society Felix Meritis, the cultural centre for the upper middle class. Dozens of men are practising their skills by sketching from a live model, completely absorbed in their work. 🧑‍🎨 👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200111844

At the Rijksmuseum Research Library, green dust flaps have been keeping dust at bay since its opening in 1885, designed by Rijksmuseum architect Pierre Cuypers. 🧼🧽 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/stories/10-things/story/cuypers-great-library

At first glance, this still life from 1860 seems calm and composed, but then you spot the fallen Chinese vase, the open lid of the pitcher and the apple on the blue porcelain plate. Something has just happened, or is about to. 🍎 👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/20029259

The Fiep Westendorp exhibition is made possible in part by the Fiep Westendorp Foundation and the Brook Foundation through the Rijksmuseum Fonds. Images: © Fiep Amsterdam bv; Fiep Westendorp Foundation Image of Fiep Westendorp: ©Bob Bronshof

From sunflowers to orange gerberas, summer flowers bring a unique richness of colour. These flowers evoke long summer days and warm sunshine. What makes these paintings so special is how vivid the flowers still feel, as if they have just been picked. 🌺🌹🌸 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection

A boy pulls a treat away from the cat’s nose, while another pair of grabby little hands edges closer and closer. Judith Leyster painted the perfect moment just before things might go wrong. How much longer before laughter turns to tears? 🐈‍⬛ 👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200851329

You will spot them again and again in seventeenth-century still lifes. Not just because they were beautiful, but because they told a story about trade, luxury and craftsmanship. 🍋    👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200107972

Portrait of a Woman is the simple title of this painting. Simple, yet fitting. We do not know exactly who this woman was. She may have been Janneke, or Jeannette des Planques, but we cannot be certain. 🪭 👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/20027815

Made around 1580–1600, this gold pendant was a bridal gift - every inch of it tells you so. At its centre, two clasped hands hold a large diamond, a gesture of union. 💎 👁️ https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200114306

Each artist found their own way of depicting water. One chose soft tones and a calm sea, while another brought the waves to life with visible brushstrokes and vibrant colours. 🌅⛵️ 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection

Collectors Joseph Drucker and Maria Lydia Drucker-Fraser left a lasting mark on the Rijksmuseum. Their remarkable collection inspired the creation of the Drucker Annex, where much of this porcelain was displayed when the gallery opened. ✨ 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection

Every year on 1 July, the Netherlands commemorates the abolition of slavery during Keti Koti. This kettle was used to turn sap extracted from sugarcane into sugar crystals. It stands as a reminder of the labour of the many enslaved people. 👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/stories/exhibitions/slavery