0:00:11 > 0:00:15As the French philosopher Descartes said, "God made the world,
0:00:15 > 0:00:17"but the Dutch made Holland."
0:00:17 > 0:00:21And there is nowhere more uniquely, beautifully Dutch than Amsterdam.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25This wonderful city that seems almost to float on the water.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28But for the last ten years this has also been a city
0:00:28 > 0:00:32with a gaping cultural hole where its heart should be.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38This is the Rijksmuseum, one of the world's great museums.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42Holland's equivalent to the National Gallery or the Louvre.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45And yet, for the last ten years it has been closed to the public,
0:00:45 > 0:00:47undergoing a massive restoration.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56The closure of the Rijksmuseum was a big hole in the national life.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59We missed all these beautiful things.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02Can you imagine the French rolling the Mona Lisa through the streets?
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Only in Holland would this happen.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09I consider the Rijksmuseum the nucleus,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12or more or less the egg we crawled out.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20There are very few countries where the National Museum has been
0:01:20 > 0:01:23entirely re-thought, reinvented.
0:01:26 > 0:01:32It really is amazing. Everybody is very excited, having it open again.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37The national treasures of the Dutch people are inside this museum.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Wow! It is just unbelievable!
0:01:42 > 0:01:46For over a decade, people all over the museum world -
0:01:46 > 0:01:49but above all the Dutch people - have been waiting, waiting, waiting.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51But now the wait is over.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54So, join me on a journey to rediscover
0:01:54 > 0:01:57the treasures of a great nation.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12Welcome to the Rijksmuseum 2013.
0:02:12 > 0:02:18This is the scene of probably the most remarkable,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20most expensive, most ambitious remodelling
0:02:20 > 0:02:23of one of the world's major museums ever undertaken.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28The whole place is buzzing with crowds, journalists, TV crews,
0:02:28 > 0:02:33but actually, compared to the last few weeks, it is relatively calm.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35It's been a hive of activity here.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38They have been frantically putting the last touches
0:02:38 > 0:02:40to their great museum and we have had a backstage pass.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45Over the last few weeks, we have been privileged enough to watch
0:02:45 > 0:02:50how the Dutch have reinvented their single greatest monument to the past.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08It is all happening. Paintings are arriving in crates.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10They are coming out of their boxes, going up on the walls.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15The whole place is buzzing with machinery.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17Which painting is this?
0:03:17 > 0:03:24- Love Letter.- That is Vermeer's Love Letter? I can't believe it!
0:03:24 > 0:03:29- So there is a Vermeer under there? - Yes.- And you are not shaking!
0:03:29 > 0:03:33- A little bit.- Yeah.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Take the painting, and I put it on the wall.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40- You are going to do that now?- Yes. - Wow!- In a second.- Thank you.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45That is iconic. This is one of the great paintings in the world.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47The gentleman behind the cameraman,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49he doesn't want to be on television,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52he doesn't like being on television,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55but he has agreed to be on television to hang the picture.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58We really appreciate that. Oh! Wow!
0:04:04 > 0:04:05Ha!
0:04:13 > 0:04:19I can't believe it! It looks like it was painted yesterday.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23- Isn't it fantastic? - The glass is clean.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27The glass is clean. What a beautiful painting.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34Now, the Rijksmuseum's collections
0:04:34 > 0:04:37are jaw-droppingly rich and varied.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40There are treasures from Asia and the Far East.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44There are masterpieces of painting like this Monet, or,
0:04:44 > 0:04:49over here, a wonderfully piercing self-portrait by none other
0:04:49 > 0:04:50than Vincent van Gogh.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54But this is also a museum with a single overriding mission -
0:04:54 > 0:04:58to tell the story of the Dutch past, to bring Holland to life.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16In the past, the Rijksmuseum organised its collections on rather
0:05:16 > 0:05:22traditional academic lines, department by department.
0:05:22 > 0:05:23You know the sort of thing.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26"Over here we have got glass, over there we have got silver.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30"Gallery 3 is for ceramics, Galleries 22-29 for painting..."
0:05:30 > 0:05:32But they have done away with all that now.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35And in a very bold, daring, and highly effective way,
0:05:35 > 0:05:37they have brought all of the arts together
0:05:37 > 0:05:40and involved them
0:05:40 > 0:05:43in this great chronological sweep through history.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45And it is quite some achievement.
0:05:45 > 0:05:4980 galleries, 80,000 objects, and 800 years of history.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52So you really do need more than a couple of hours
0:05:52 > 0:05:53to get to know this place.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05The Rijksmuseum is about the Dutchness of Dutchness.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09It was constructed in the 19th century as a symbol
0:06:09 > 0:06:15for the Dutch nation and it houses the treasures of the Netherlands.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21I think anyone coming to Amsterdam for the first time
0:06:21 > 0:06:25and looking at the Rijksmuseum cannot fail to be struck
0:06:25 > 0:06:26by how unique it is,
0:06:26 > 0:06:32how extraordinary it is. There is no other building in the city like it.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36It is this wonderful, neogothic, romantic fantasy -
0:06:36 > 0:06:37a temple to art.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40And nowadays it is one of the most popular,
0:06:40 > 0:06:46most loved buildings in all of Holland - but it was not always so.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50When it was first unveiled in 1885, it was regarded with horror.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53"How Catholic!"
0:06:53 > 0:06:57With its stained-glass windows, its resemblance to a cathedral,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59the flamboyance of its colour and architecture,
0:06:59 > 0:07:04many people saw it as a kind of fish bone lodged in the throat
0:07:04 > 0:07:08of the Dutch state, which was inherently Protestant.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12How dare Cuypers, the architect, a Catholic,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16have erected this building in the heart of Amsterdam?!
0:07:16 > 0:07:18And the king of the time, William III,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21refused to set foot in the building.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26My favourite detail on the whole building is that statue.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Do you see up there in the corner?
0:07:28 > 0:07:31That is Cuypers himself, the architect, with his beard,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34looking rather furtively around the corner of the building,
0:07:34 > 0:07:36almost as if to say, "Oh, I am a Catholic,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39"I'm in a Protestant world. Have I got away with it?!"
0:07:39 > 0:07:43When we moved into this building, in the 19th century,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47the collection only had 700 paintings. Now we have 6,000.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50So the collection has grown a lot.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55This meant that in the 20th century, the decorations,
0:07:55 > 0:08:00the original decorations of the building, were obscured.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03So the building slowly disappeared.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07And I think that what the renovation did is that it gave
0:08:07 > 0:08:12the building back its words, and the building speaks again.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15And now it is in harmony with the objects.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Now, I remember coming to the Rijksmuseum 20 years ago
0:08:38 > 0:08:42and, believe me, the transformation is truly mind-boggling.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46This great central courtyard, full of light, space, a sense of air.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Where I am standing used to be underwater.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53When they decided to modernise and renovate this vast building,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55there were to be no half measures.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57Large parts of it were completely gutted.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01In the beginning, the process was supposed to take three years -
0:09:01 > 0:09:03long enough, you may think.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06In the end, it has taken them ten years to complete,
0:09:06 > 0:09:11which gives you some idea of the many obstacles they had to overcome.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18The sympathetic new design is as elegantly minimal
0:09:18 > 0:09:21as Cuypers' original was extravagant.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24And the delicate task of resurrecting the museum was
0:09:24 > 0:09:27undertaken by Spanish architects Cruz Ortiz.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30Being asked to design the new Rijksmuseum,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32it's not quite like being asked to walk on water,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35but you have certainly been asked to build on water!
0:09:35 > 0:09:37The last time I was here, there was a canal down there.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39What have you done with it?
0:09:39 > 0:09:42It was the sea, actually, it was not a canal.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45When you dig more than 1.5 metres,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48after that you're under the level of the sea.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51So actually, you have all the water pouring up.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54And now this building has risen
0:09:54 > 0:09:57almost, sort of, from the ashes of its former self.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01It strikes me that you have been very sensitive
0:10:01 > 0:10:03to the original architecture.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06This building is a perfect example of the influence of the architecture
0:10:06 > 0:10:10at the end of the 19th century.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12When we were doing this kind of task,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15you pay a tribute, let's say, that way, to the history of the building.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24The whole project was scheduled for completion in 2008.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26So what caused the immense delay?
0:10:26 > 0:10:31Was it some astonishing aquatic engineering problem?
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Was it some logistical issue? No. It was a uniquely Dutch issue.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44- I think the biggest problem was the bicycle tunnel.- You're kidding!
0:10:44 > 0:10:48The bicycle tunnel? How? Put me in the picture.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51When they decided to renovate this museum,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53they also wanted to modernise it,
0:10:53 > 0:10:58and they created a new space
0:10:58 > 0:10:59in the middle of the museum.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03So they closed down the bicycle tunnel,
0:11:03 > 0:11:07and that would have been the central entrance.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Now, this central passageway, it is known as the city's gateway
0:11:11 > 0:11:15and runs right through the centre of the Rijksmuseum
0:11:15 > 0:11:17connecting the outskirts of the city to the centre.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19And before the renovation began,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22it was used by more than 13,000 cyclists every day.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26So when the architects responsible for the revamping suggested
0:11:26 > 0:11:31it be transformed and split it into two levels, there was mass revolt.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35Holland's cycling lobby - hugely powerful here -
0:11:35 > 0:11:38fell over the handlebars in disgust.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43They staged demonstrations, sit-ins, they forced a major re-evaluation
0:11:43 > 0:11:48of the whole architectural transformation of the museum.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50When Cuypers built the Rijksmuseum
0:11:50 > 0:11:55in the 1880s, it was at the border of the city.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58And he built it over one of the important entrance roads
0:11:58 > 0:12:01and he built like a city gate.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03And it was meant to go under it.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08So from a architectural point of view, from an urban point of view,
0:12:08 > 0:12:10I think that we should stick to it.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15I always agreed that the bicycle tunnel should go right through.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18But I wanted the bicycles to ride in both laterals of the passage.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20The passage has three ways.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22We wanted the bicycles to ride in the two laterals,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26but the bicycles wanted to ride in the centre, where the power is!
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Ha-ha! That is great!
0:12:29 > 0:12:35In the end, the architect had to redesign the whole plan
0:12:35 > 0:12:40and that caused a major delay and a major extra money.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45Protests over the bike passage added years to the project.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50And the passions raised show the peculiar nature
0:12:50 > 0:12:53of the Dutch attitude to this museum.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56It is theirs, their national space.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01What does the Rijksmuseum mean to the people of Amsterdam,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04to the people of Holland? What does it mean to you?
0:13:04 > 0:13:07The treasures of the country are held here.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11- This is the main museum, the mother of all museums.- I like that.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15- So this is the mother, the mother of the Netherlands.- Yes.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23We should consider it as our own national identity
0:13:23 > 0:13:26and the basis of where we come from.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29If we consider this a museum for foreign people,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32or for once every ten years to visit,
0:13:32 > 0:13:34we will lose our identity, definitely.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39We are facing times where we look for our identity. Well, it is here
0:13:39 > 0:13:40and it was lost.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44We lost our concept of what it is to be Dutch,
0:13:44 > 0:13:49where our cultural identity derives from - we lost it all.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51And we have to be proud of our Dutch culture.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55If we understand where we came from, if we go to the Rijksmuseum,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59look thoroughly, what was our basis? Where did Vermeer come from?
0:13:59 > 0:14:05Rembrandt, etc, Mondrian? Especially now, we need it, our art.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10I think it is just fantastic. But what do you think?
0:14:10 > 0:14:12It really is amazing.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16It is very beautiful with the colours on the wall,
0:14:16 > 0:14:20the places where they renovated the original details,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22it has been very amazing.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26The starry sky. Did you see the starry sky?
0:14:26 > 0:14:30- Yes, yes!- It is dazzling. - All the way from Glasgow!
0:14:30 > 0:14:32That is our contribution!
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Another way in which they have married the old
0:14:52 > 0:14:53with the new here at the Rijksmuseum
0:14:53 > 0:14:56is by intruding into some of the spaces
0:14:56 > 0:14:58commissioned by living artists.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01In this case, a work by the Glasgow-based,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Turner Prize-winning Richard Wright, whose taken a motif
0:15:04 > 0:15:07from Cuypers' original design for the library, a star,
0:15:07 > 0:15:11and turned it into this bedazzling pop art creation,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13best experienced lying on your back.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16I think you are allowed to lie on your back in here.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33It is not just the museum that has been receiving a makeover.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Some of the world's most famous paintings have been getting
0:15:36 > 0:15:38some pretty special treatment too.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42When the galleries of the Rijksmuseum are finally open to the public,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45this place will be seething, but while they have been closed,
0:15:45 > 0:15:49they have taken the opportunity to do some truly innovative
0:15:49 > 0:15:52research into some of their most precious pictures.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04I feel like a child who has been sort of allowed a free run
0:16:04 > 0:16:07in the toy shop. It is just amazing to see a naked Rembrandt.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09And you are not even looking at the skin,
0:16:09 > 0:16:14you are looking beneath the skin of the Rembrandt, right?
0:16:16 > 0:16:18When I ambushed them they were in the middle of X-raying
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Rembrandt's 1662 portrait of the Drapers' Guild.
0:16:21 > 0:16:27The examination reveals fascinatingly how he struggled with composition,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30especially when it came to placing the servant.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Basically, this gentleman there, the only one without the hat,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36what you are saying is, Rembrandt was thinking,
0:16:36 > 0:16:37"Where am I going to put him?"
0:16:37 > 0:16:40- Right.- Where did he start off, do we think?
0:16:40 > 0:16:43We think he might have started off on the right,
0:16:43 > 0:16:45because it is actually almost a finished head,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47and he ended up here.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49We can see that if we look at the hat of the man in the centre,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52it is actually a lot taller than it is today.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55So he probably moved him here and said, "Let's top off the hat,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58"make it a bit smaller, and put him there."
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Sometimes X-rays of paintings are really boring because they just
0:17:01 > 0:17:04- show you the painting that is underneath in sketch form.- Yes.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06But this one, this is a really top X-ray.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08But, Tim, what is going on over here?
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Over here we have a 3D scanner.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13What we are doing is scanning this entire painting.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16- This is the Jewish Bride by Rembrandt.- I know.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19And we are scanning it with a resolution of ten micrometres,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22This is a 3D scanner. We have two cameras,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24in a stereo set up,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27and it triangulates each point on the surface of the painting.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30And we can get a lot of points from this painting, and from that we
0:17:30 > 0:17:33can create a three-dimensional map of the painting, of the depth.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37So in this painting he painted not only with thick brushstrokes,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40- but also probably put a piece of dried paint on it...- With his hands.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Correct.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44And if we scale up the z-resolution,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47the depth resolution a bit, we can make it look like this.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49This has been exaggerated 50 times.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52And you can see the plasters of paint all over here.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54- You can see the squiggle here. - That is amazing!
0:17:54 > 0:17:59- You can see the drabs of paint going over it.- It is like Arizona.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02- It is like the painted desert. It is like...- Or maybe like Mars?
0:18:10 > 0:18:12This is the most amazing thing.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16This really says something about the health of the painting.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Three global cracks running along the painting.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21A lot of small cracks in between.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Could you do me, like, a big favour?
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Because, as it happens, like van Gogh
0:18:28 > 0:18:31who was obsessed by this painting -
0:18:31 > 0:18:34he used to stand in front of it for hours at a time,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38saying it was the most infinitely sympathetic picture.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41He was obsessed by that yellow, buttery sleeve.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44He was completely hypnotised by it.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47And if you look at the van Gogh sunflower, I think he is trying to...
0:18:47 > 0:18:53If you want to look at a van Gogh sunflower, I have one here as well.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Is this guy...? I have got to take you back to England with me!
0:18:57 > 0:19:01- Here it comes.- That is a Vincent van Gogh sunflower?
0:19:01 > 0:19:03That is a Vincent van Gogh sunflower!
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Ha-ha! Look at that. Stop it there.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- You can see drabs of paint. - Look at that! That is amazing.
0:19:09 > 0:19:14What I love about the way that he did the sunflowers is that he uses
0:19:14 > 0:19:17paint not just as a representational medium, but...
0:19:17 > 0:19:21- It is almost as sculpture. - Yes. Give me five! Absolutely.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25You can see the point of his brush in there, you can
0:19:25 > 0:19:27see some hairs running along.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30It is like every painting, through Tim's new lens,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32becomes like a planet.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Take me back to The Jewish Bride.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38To me, that is like you have got a helicopter and you are flying
0:19:38 > 0:19:43over the painting and the painting turns into a landscape.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47That is just fantastic. And what an anarchist Rembrandt was!
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Once he put the paint on there,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52he could have painted that with his nose!
0:19:52 > 0:19:54That is just unbelievable!
0:19:54 > 0:19:59Wow! I'd say that is one of the best things I have seen.
0:19:59 > 0:20:05- Thank you so much.- No problem, glad to be of service.- Wow!
0:20:10 > 0:20:15So, if you want to see the main draw, the star attraction, look over here.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19It is The Night Watch, Holland's most iconic painting.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23It is not just the most important painting in Holland,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26this is a true national treasure.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30A wonderfully raucous expression of the Dutch national character.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35Here they are, the Burgher class, in all their drunken splendour.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39But look at the size of this picture. It's 16 foot by 12.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43Getting it into place was almost as big a job as finishing
0:20:43 > 0:20:45the reconstruction of the museum.
0:20:52 > 0:20:58Completed in 1642, The Night Watch is Rembrandt's most famous work.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Far too popular to keep away from public view.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06So while the main building was being restored, it was always on display
0:21:06 > 0:21:09in a smaller wing of the museum.
0:21:09 > 0:21:15And when it was time for it to move back home, it caused quite a stir.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20I think it is wonderful. The Night Watch on a crane!
0:21:20 > 0:21:2630 foot above the ground. Everybody here going, "Don't drop it!"
0:21:29 > 0:21:33I do think this is more than slightly surreal.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38The painting is hugely symbolic for the people of Holland,
0:21:38 > 0:21:40in all sorts of ways.
0:21:40 > 0:21:46The most famous artist, Rembrandt. It is an image of, supposedly,
0:21:46 > 0:21:51civic solidarity, so it stands for the nation, in a way.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59It is coming through a triumphal arch. That is a nice touch.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Oh, it is terribly close to the top of the arch!
0:22:07 > 0:22:11It is like a football match. They are cheering the painting.
0:22:11 > 0:22:16There are kids over there, there are thousands of people here. Whoo!
0:22:24 > 0:22:30What a fantastic way to mark the opening of the Rijksmuseum!
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Can you imagine the French, rolling the Mona Lisa through the streets?
0:22:37 > 0:22:42- Only in Holland would this happen. I think it is superb.- We are Dutch.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46This national treasure belongs, really, to everybody.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49And it took just a very short distance to bring it
0:22:49 > 0:22:52from the other building to this building.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Yes, we have cranes, and yes, it is on the street, and yes,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58the sun was shining and everybody was there.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01So we made a kind of ceremony, procession, almost.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08I think the fascinating thing about The Night Watch is that
0:23:08 > 0:23:13in France, the Louvre, the icon is the Mona Lisa, an Italian painting.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15But for the Rijksmuseum,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18what makes the Rijksmuseum so special
0:23:18 > 0:23:20is that it has this national character.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24It is very much interwoven with The Night Watch,
0:23:24 > 0:23:25with the Dutch identity.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28And complex as that identity is,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32people kind of still feel, "This is our national icon."
0:23:32 > 0:23:36And that is also why there is so much excitement
0:23:36 > 0:23:37when it is being moved.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48The picture is so big, so fragile, so precious,
0:23:48 > 0:23:53that they actually cut a slot into the 19th century brick work
0:23:53 > 0:23:57to allow it to be lifted safely home.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06At the high altar of this cathedral of art that Cuypers
0:24:06 > 0:24:10constructed, there is The Night Watch.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13But what does The Night Watch show?
0:24:13 > 0:24:19The most important painting of the Netherlands is not a king,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23a queen, Christ on the cross. No, it is Burghers.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28And they are pharmacists, merchants, and lawyers.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37Talk about pride of place!
0:24:37 > 0:24:39Pride of place!
0:24:39 > 0:24:44Everything in the museum has been moved around, changed around.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49Every single work of art is not to be found where it once was,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52except for this one. The Night Watch.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Now, one of the things that is totally unique about the Rijksmuseum
0:24:56 > 0:25:00as a national museum of art, it's the only one in the world that
0:25:00 > 0:25:05was constructed entirely around one picture. This picture.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09The room itself proclaims Rembrandt's genius, tells the story
0:25:09 > 0:25:14in its inscription of his life, and at the centre is this picture,
0:25:14 > 0:25:20which I suppose to a Dutchman it is almost a talisman, it is
0:25:20 > 0:25:24a touchstone, it is a symbol of national identity.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33A wonderful artist, Rembrandt.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36He is the Shakespeare of painting.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39Like Shakespeare, he breaks all the rules.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43And what bubbles through the surface of his canvases is this profound,
0:25:43 > 0:25:48unruly, raucous sense of humanity.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50He is the painter of human beings,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54as Shakespeare is the writer of human beings.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56That is what you get.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00What is it that makes a painting live forever in people's
0:26:00 > 0:26:02heart and soul?
0:26:02 > 0:26:06I think one of the most important things is mystery.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10It is mystery. If you understand it, it is kind of dead.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12And this picture is mysterious,
0:26:12 > 0:26:18that was the word van Gogh used about Rembrandt. "He is mysterious.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21"So mysterious that he seems to use paint to say
0:26:21 > 0:26:24"things for which we have no words."
0:26:24 > 0:26:27And at the heart of the painting,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30for me it is the heart, there is this really enigmatic detail.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34A little girl, lit by that shaft of Rembrandt light,
0:26:34 > 0:26:40but she has the face, she has the face of his wife Saskia,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44who died in the same year that this picture was delivered.
0:26:46 > 0:26:52Was this the last time that he painted Saskia from the life?
0:26:52 > 0:26:57But if so, why did he attach her face to the body of a little girl?
0:26:57 > 0:27:00What is going on? We don't know.
0:27:00 > 0:27:07I suspect this is some kind of Rembrandtian tribute to her memory.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10But in the absence of the man himself,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13we will never know what it really means.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22When you think about the Rijksmuseum,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26it is a museum not just of Dutch art but also Dutch history, is it not?
0:27:26 > 0:27:30Is it important to you that the people of Holland can come here
0:27:30 > 0:27:33- and in effect walk through their own past?- Yes.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37History and art go hand-in-hand and that is exactly what we want.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40We have this sense of time and beauty.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44And we have, if you walk through the galleries, on every floor,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47a century of Dutch art, culture and history,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49from the Middle Ages to Mondrian.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53So you walk into a gallery and you see a ship model, or a gun,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55and next to that, a beautiful painting.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16- We are very much in Holland now.- So here, you are blown away by this...
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Just a little blown away, yes!
0:28:19 > 0:28:22It is rather a sort of forbidding opening to a gallery!
0:28:22 > 0:28:27This is really the time of the Dutch fighting the Spanish. And one of...
0:28:27 > 0:28:30How many items are there in the entire collection of the Rijksmuseum?
0:28:30 > 0:28:33There are over one million objects.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36So for us it was incredibly difficult
0:28:36 > 0:28:38to choose exactly the objects
0:28:38 > 0:28:43that would tell the story of Dutch art and history,
0:28:43 > 0:28:45and it was a lengthy process.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50Urgh! Personally, I think that this
0:28:50 > 0:28:54is the ugliest painting in the whole of the Rijksmuseum.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56For me it is just a...
0:28:56 > 0:28:59It is more than ugly, it is horrific. It is one of those...
0:28:59 > 0:29:04Out of the one million things that are owned by the museum,
0:29:04 > 0:29:10- how many are able to be displayed at one time here?- 8,000, we chose.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14And we had a motto, where we said, "Less is more."
0:29:14 > 0:29:18So we really chose objects that we think
0:29:18 > 0:29:22show the culture, our beautiful works of art,
0:29:22 > 0:29:27and give you a sense of time and a sense of beauty.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32- They are masterpieces, aren't they? - This also is fantastic.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35- Is this going to be covered with glass or not?- No.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38That's one of the things I noticed, there's a lot of the paintings
0:29:38 > 0:29:41you've kept naked, I call it, they've not got glass on them...
0:29:41 > 0:29:45Yeah, we feel that you have to be able to appreciate them
0:29:45 > 0:29:48in that way, and also here you have to be able to stand
0:29:48 > 0:29:50face-to-face with the works of art.
0:30:01 > 0:30:06And what has been the great driving purpose behind this massive
0:30:06 > 0:30:10reconstruction? Well, fundamentally, to turn the museum itself
0:30:10 > 0:30:14into a blank canvas upon which the curators can hang the works
0:30:14 > 0:30:17in such a way that they tell the story of the Dutch,
0:30:17 > 0:30:19and of Holland, and what a story it is.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28Over the centuries, the Dutch state has taken many forms.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31A relatively small area, it emerged from the Middle Ages
0:30:31 > 0:30:35with disproportionate power and influence,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38thanks to a native talent for trade.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43The famously flat land of the Low Countries has never produced enough
0:30:43 > 0:30:47agriculture to support itself, so commerce has always been essential.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53The principles of free trade, and the tolerance that made
0:30:53 > 0:30:56that possible, have always been at the heart
0:30:56 > 0:30:58of the Dutch national psyche.
0:31:02 > 0:31:08Holland's origins as an independent state lie in a violently colonial
0:31:08 > 0:31:12relationship with the great villains of Dutch history - the Spanish.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18There were anti-Spanish songs that were published
0:31:18 > 0:31:21and people would sing them and there were books all about
0:31:21 > 0:31:23the horrible crimes of the Spanish
0:31:23 > 0:31:26and how the Dutch suffered under the Spanish,
0:31:26 > 0:31:28particularly in the first half of the 17th century.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31Maybe it was almost like, kind of, that anti-Spanish feeling was almost
0:31:31 > 0:31:36a kind of a glue needed to cement together this new nation.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40Yes, the idea nowadays that you cement a nation, you can make a nation
0:31:40 > 0:31:43by setting up another, a strong other
0:31:43 > 0:31:45and for the Dutch, the Spanish were the other.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51The roots of the conflict reach back to 1555,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54when control of mainly Protestant Holland passed
0:31:54 > 0:31:57to the fanatically Catholic Spaniard Philip II.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00With a hateful mistrust of his subjects,
0:32:00 > 0:32:02he set out to suppress them.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07So, how did the Dutch react to Philip's repressive policies?
0:32:07 > 0:32:11Well, they attacked what he loved most -
0:32:11 > 0:32:15the very fabric of the Catholic Church.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20They attacked its superstitions, they attacked its priests,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24they attacked the buildings that represented Philip and his faith.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30They pulled down statues, they smashed stained-glass windows,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33they destroyed paintings.
0:32:33 > 0:32:39You can see it all here, laid out in vivid detail. The iconoclastic rage,
0:32:39 > 0:32:40it was called.
0:32:42 > 0:32:49Now, this violent upsurge of popular unrest expressed against Philip,
0:32:49 > 0:32:52against Spain, against Catholicism, it would lead
0:32:52 > 0:32:55to the great war of Dutch independence. A war so bloody
0:32:55 > 0:33:01and so protracted that its very name conveys the pain of it all -
0:33:01 > 0:33:03the Eighty Years' War.
0:33:09 > 0:33:14Iconoclasm, the destruction of art, the desecration of a sacred space.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18Well, you might think that all that is safely
0:33:18 > 0:33:23in the Holland's Reformation past, but - tsk, tsk - have a look at this.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37Now, this is the Great Hall. Isn't it fantastic?
0:33:37 > 0:33:41I think anybody coming to the magnificently revamped Rijksmuseum
0:33:41 > 0:33:45will instantly understand that this represents the beating heart
0:33:45 > 0:33:48of the institution. It represent everything
0:33:48 > 0:33:51that it was founded to say to the world about Holland.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09What we have are scenes of Dutch history,
0:34:09 > 0:34:13emblems of the proud spirit of Dutch independence.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17It's got that kind of wonderful 19th-century sentimental
0:34:17 > 0:34:20illogicality that you find in the V&A
0:34:20 > 0:34:24and buildings like that in Britain, but what a wonderfully exuberant
0:34:24 > 0:34:28expression of the idea that art is our temple.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36But believe it or not, believe it or not...
0:34:38 > 0:34:41..the history of Dutch iconoclasm, the history of the war between
0:34:41 > 0:34:45the Protestant and Catholic was played out in this very space,
0:34:45 > 0:34:47in the 1950s...
0:34:48 > 0:34:54..when an officious public director of works decided that this
0:34:54 > 0:35:00great space was giving people the wrong idea about Holland.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04Holland was, as far as he was concerned, Protestant.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08It was logical. It was clinical. It was sensible.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11It wasn't artistic, it wasn't Catholic. So what did he do?
0:35:11 > 0:35:12Can you believe it?
0:35:12 > 0:35:16He had the whole space whitewashed. Whitewashed.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25In the 1950s, '60s,
0:35:25 > 0:35:30the Dutch became less and less religious.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35In literature, you have books writing about terrible religious
0:35:35 > 0:35:38parents who made you pray before every meal.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41And that was the time that they wanted to get rid of this
0:35:41 > 0:35:43religious Catholic building.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46And also modernism helped them with it,
0:35:46 > 0:35:48because you could paint everything white.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52There was a twisted historical logic
0:35:52 > 0:35:55behind this architectural desecration.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00Whitewashing the Great Hall was a modern tribute to the sparse
0:36:00 > 0:36:02Dutch Protestant churches of the Reformation.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08Restoring it to its former glory took painstaking effort.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14But the most extraordinary aspect of an already pretty extraordinary story
0:36:14 > 0:36:17is the fact that this guy actually asked,
0:36:17 > 0:36:21actually asked the principal conservator of paintings,
0:36:21 > 0:36:25a wonderful lady called Mallya, who sadly is too ill to be on this show,
0:36:25 > 0:36:31he ordered her to destroy the paintings. Can you believe that?
0:36:31 > 0:36:34Telling the conservator of the Rijksmuseum to destroy paintings,
0:36:34 > 0:36:35to burn them.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38But she didn't. She hid them.
0:36:38 > 0:36:44And now, thanks to the enlightened attitude of the modern renovators
0:36:44 > 0:36:47of the Rijksmuseum, they are back in place.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51It's a pretty amazing story.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04Now, if you look through the 800 years spanned by the Rijksmuseum's
0:37:04 > 0:37:07collection, there's one period in particular which I think
0:37:07 > 0:37:12would set anyone's imagination on fire - the Dutch 17th century.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16They call it the Golden Age and with good reason, because it was then,
0:37:16 > 0:37:21extraordinarily, that this tiny, seafaring nation became
0:37:21 > 0:37:25the great powerhouse of world politics, world trade, world finance.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29Quite simply, the most powerful country in the world.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33And also the most creative in terms of painting.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42At the time, Holland was a political anomaly.
0:37:42 > 0:37:47Despite having a population of less than two million, it had confidently
0:37:47 > 0:37:51renounced Spanish and papal rule and functioned as a republic.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54Without the straitjacket of the established order,
0:37:54 > 0:37:58still in place throughout most of Europe, Dutch trade boomed.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00Holland flourished.
0:38:02 > 0:38:08So who ruled this new society, this new nation, Holland?
0:38:08 > 0:38:13Well, it wasn't any king or prince, it wasn't the Pope or any priest.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15It was men like these,
0:38:15 > 0:38:21prosperous members of a rising merchant middle class.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24The Burgher citizens of Amsterdam.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30We have this extraordinary case of a country that is very small,
0:38:30 > 0:38:36and they were by far the richest country in all of Europe
0:38:36 > 0:38:37and in all of the world.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40And not just because they had some very rich people,
0:38:40 > 0:38:45but because wealth was also spread very widely for the time.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50So there was a broad middle class that was able to participate
0:38:50 > 0:38:52in this extraordinary culture.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07Of course, you can't walk into the world of the past.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10But I think this is the next best thing.
0:39:10 > 0:39:15What a wonderful object it is. It's a 17th-century doll's house.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18It must have cost a fortune. It was certainly, I suspect,
0:39:18 > 0:39:22one of the more expensive Christmas presents given in the year 1675.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26What's fascinating about it as well is that it offers us,
0:39:26 > 0:39:32almost as a microcosm, the ideal home of the rich, Dutch
0:39:32 > 0:39:37merchant class, the Burgher. This is how he was supposed to live.
0:39:37 > 0:39:42Notice these people are avid collectors.
0:39:42 > 0:39:43They are fascinated by painting.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47They've got a Raphael on their wall, an old master.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50And over the fireplace, in the main room, behind the master
0:39:50 > 0:39:55of the house and the mistress, is a beautiful Dutch still life painting.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57Painting everywhere.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03In this prosperous emerging Dutch state,
0:40:03 > 0:40:06the church and the nobility had been usurped from their
0:40:06 > 0:40:10customary role as the biggest patrons of the arts.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13The Dutch merchant class filled the gap,
0:40:13 > 0:40:16creating a thriving middle-class art market.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21Painters were reliant,
0:40:21 > 0:40:26from now on, on the private citizens' patronage and they responded with
0:40:26 > 0:40:29an energy that more than matched the vigour
0:40:29 > 0:40:31of the merchants themselves.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38Art, as a commodity, an object of trade and exchange,
0:40:38 > 0:40:40had well and truly arrived.
0:40:42 > 0:40:48Each new specifically Dutch form of painting produced its own new genius.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52The cheekily vibrant portraits of Frans Hals.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55The air-filled landscapes of Hobbema,
0:40:55 > 0:40:58the sun-drenched idylls of Cuyp.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00Vermeer's hymns...
0:41:01 > 0:41:03..to domesticity.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08And the most famous of them all - Rembrandt.
0:41:15 > 0:41:21So where did they get the cash to pay for this amazing art boom?
0:41:21 > 0:41:25Answer - expanding Dutch trade.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30The Netherlands, we have always been on the crossroads of trade routes.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33So the trade between the Mediterranean and the North
0:41:33 > 0:41:35and England and the Continent
0:41:35 > 0:41:40and the German hinterland all had to pass through the Low Countries.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51Now, if you wanted to dominate world trade in the 17th century,
0:41:51 > 0:41:53there was really only one way to do it.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55You had to rule the waves,
0:41:55 > 0:42:01and Dutch maritime supremacy was the key to Dutch trading success.
0:42:01 > 0:42:07And, unsurprisingly, Dutch art is full of images
0:42:07 > 0:42:10that celebrate the Dutch obsession with the sea.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17No-one paints the details of ships, their rigging,
0:42:17 > 0:42:23their sails filled by the wind, their cannon belching out flame
0:42:23 > 0:42:28and smoke, no-one paints that with more obsessive interest
0:42:28 > 0:42:30in detail than the Dutch artist.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48This is the maritime gallery of the Rijksmuseum.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50It's one of the most spectacular spaces.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53They're putting the finishing touches to this wonderful
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Dutch man-o'-war.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59And pride of place is occupied by this painting.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03And what it reminds us of is the fact that the Dutch naval expansion
0:43:03 > 0:43:06in the 17th century did not go unnoticed,
0:43:06 > 0:43:11least of all by the English. The Dutch fought three great naval wars
0:43:11 > 0:43:12with the English,
0:43:12 > 0:43:18and this picture commemorates the single most humiliating defeat
0:43:18 > 0:43:21suffered by His Majesty's Royal Navy in all of history.
0:43:21 > 0:43:26It's a depiction of the Medway Raid, as it was called.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30Charles II of England had negotiated a truce with the Dutch,
0:43:30 > 0:43:32but he had done so in bad faith.
0:43:32 > 0:43:37They sniffed it out and they sailed their ships into the Thames Estuary,
0:43:37 > 0:43:40catching the British Navy by surprise.
0:43:40 > 0:43:44They set fire to the fleet. These are the heroic Dutch ships coming home,
0:43:44 > 0:43:51and they towed away, they towed away, the flagship of the Royal Navy.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53The man responsible, he is here.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56Great hero of Dutch history, Michiel de Ruyter.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59What a man. You don't want to mess with him, do you?
0:43:59 > 0:44:01And the story continues as you move through the gallery,
0:44:01 > 0:44:04because up here, what have we got? Amazing.
0:44:04 > 0:44:09The only surviving remnant of a 17th-century battleship,
0:44:09 > 0:44:10and what is it?
0:44:10 > 0:44:16It's the prow of that flagship, towed away by Michiel de Ruyter.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18And here it is erected in the stadium,
0:44:18 > 0:44:22so to speak, of Dutch history, as a permanent scoreboard.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26Holland one, England nil.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53It wasn't just the destruction of His Majesty's Fleet that set the Dutch
0:44:53 > 0:44:55and English against each other.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58Soon, it was to be the prize of the English Crown itself.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03By the late 17th century, the Stadtholder,
0:45:03 > 0:45:08the ruler of Holland, was the young William III.
0:45:08 > 0:45:13And this picture commemorates his marriage to his English cousin,
0:45:13 > 0:45:17Mary Stuart, daughter of James II.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20He was 14, she was 9.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22And they've just got married.
0:45:22 > 0:45:28Now you might think this was a happy ever after story, but in fact one of
0:45:28 > 0:45:33the largest family spats in European royal history was about to erupt.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36William was a Protestant,
0:45:36 > 0:45:40and when his English father-in-law James produced a new son
0:45:40 > 0:45:43and resolved to raise him as a Catholic, James's opponents
0:45:43 > 0:45:47in England appealed to William to expel the unreforming king.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50William set sail with a huge invasion force
0:45:50 > 0:45:54and seized the English Crown, wife by his side.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59Here they are. The china versions of William and Mary.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03Now, William wasn't just a military man and a powerbroker.
0:46:03 > 0:46:10He was somebody who revelled in the trappings of wealth and grandeur,
0:46:10 > 0:46:13everything that came with his new role
0:46:13 > 0:46:16both as Dutch stadtholder and English king.
0:46:16 > 0:46:21He and his wife Mary were avaricious collectors of china,
0:46:21 > 0:46:24fine arts, painting, silver, furniture,
0:46:24 > 0:46:28and this section of the Rijksmuseum is almost like a cornucopia
0:46:28 > 0:46:32overflowing with examples of their rather flowery taste.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50This is William and Mary's bed.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53Rather lumpy-looking, but how magnificent is that?
0:46:53 > 0:46:55It's an embroiderer's dream,
0:46:55 > 0:46:57or should that be embroiderer's nightmare?
0:46:57 > 0:47:01Just imagine how many hours went into the creation
0:47:01 > 0:47:05of this palace for sleeping.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09It's an interesting reminder that,
0:47:09 > 0:47:14although we think of William as this great figurehead of Protestant
0:47:14 > 0:47:18culture, he was anything but a puritan.
0:47:24 > 0:47:29Now, Dutch trade with the Far East is a vital part of the national story.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31Think of modern Holland's most famous export.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35Well, it was originally brought here from the Far East - the tulip.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40The collections at the Rijksmuseum are full of the remains, the relics,
0:47:40 > 0:47:43the residue of this fruitful interchange between East and West.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47So much so that they've decided, in the newly revamped version
0:47:47 > 0:47:52of the museum, to dedicate an entire new space to their Asian collections.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54The Asian Pavilion.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07The great Dutch trading adventure during the Golden Age took them
0:48:07 > 0:48:10all over the world, but it was their roots to the Far East
0:48:10 > 0:48:12that proved most profitable.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22Such was their eastern dominance
0:48:22 > 0:48:25that for two-and-a-half centuries they were the only Europeans,
0:48:25 > 0:48:30the only outsiders, who traded with Japan.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33And I think if you want to enjoy the fruits of the truly
0:48:33 > 0:48:37extraordinary relationship between the Dutch and the Japanese,
0:48:37 > 0:48:41this is the best place to come. This, for me, is one of the great
0:48:41 > 0:48:43works of decorative art in the world.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47It's a samurai military commander helmet,
0:48:47 > 0:48:51created in Japan around the late 16th century.
0:48:56 > 0:49:01When is battle declared? Battle is declared, it commences, at dawn.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05As the sun rises, here he is. He has to be visible,
0:49:05 > 0:49:08his troops number in thousands.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12There he is at the centre of his army with the sun shining
0:49:12 > 0:49:15on this extraordinary helmet,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18turning him into a kind of beacon.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20HE EXHALES
0:49:20 > 0:49:21What a thing.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25I don't reckon you want to be on the other side from him, but moving
0:49:25 > 0:49:30from war, power, to luxury and bliss, isn't this a wonderful thing?
0:49:30 > 0:49:34It's the image of a crane, the symbol of faithfulness
0:49:34 > 0:49:36because the crane only has one partner.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41It's thought that this beautiful lacquer creation,
0:49:41 > 0:49:43which is also a box,
0:49:43 > 0:49:48was used to serve food at wedding celebrations.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52Look at the decoration, look at the skill, the subtlety.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55This is just such a wonderful collection of objects.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57I can pick anything, but I love this.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06- Menno, how long have you been curator here?- 16 years, actually.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10So, basically, two thirds of your professional career,
0:50:10 > 0:50:12the museum has been closed.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15It's a chunk out of my career, but I think it's worth it.
0:50:15 > 0:50:20I think a lot of people, particularly from Britain perhaps, may be slightly
0:50:20 > 0:50:25surprised to find such a wonderful Asian collection in the Rijksmuseum.
0:50:25 > 0:50:26Isn't it nice?
0:50:26 > 0:50:29There is a very long-standing relation with Asia.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32The Dutch have been trading with Asia for over four centuries,
0:50:32 > 0:50:36over four centuries, so in a way it's part of Dutch culture
0:50:36 > 0:50:38to be outward-looking and exploring,
0:50:38 > 0:50:43so in a way it's very appropriate to have this White Horizon
0:50:43 > 0:50:46in our national museum in Amsterdam.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49It gives a special context, it's like a counterbalance,
0:50:49 > 0:50:53it balances out, it broadens the horizon of this otherwise
0:50:53 > 0:50:56quite narrow story of Dutch history and culture.
0:50:56 > 0:51:01So when you look at those wonderful Dutch seascapes, those boats,
0:51:01 > 0:51:03and you think, "Well, where are they going?"
0:51:03 > 0:51:06Then you come here and, "Ah, this is where they were going."
0:51:06 > 0:51:07This is the world they found.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19These guys are fantastic. What are we looking at here?
0:51:19 > 0:51:22We're looking at two 14th-century temple guardians.
0:51:26 > 0:51:30The wonderful thing about these pieces is that they are very clear
0:51:30 > 0:51:31in their message.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35These guys are here to keep evil out of the temple. It's pretty obvious.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40Raarrr! They're fantastic. I mean, look at their muscles.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42They've been in the gym, these guys.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45I'll tell you what they remind me of, which is really interesting,
0:51:45 > 0:51:49there's a crossover between English Medieval culture and Japanese Medieval culture.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52Because what did we put on our churches, or the Dutch as well?
0:51:52 > 0:51:55- Gargoyles, to ward off evil spirits. - Yes.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59And these guys are really sort of Japanese gargoyles, aren't they?
0:51:59 > 0:52:03Imagine being in the 14th century. There's not a lot of visual input.
0:52:03 > 0:52:06Yeah, you're coming down from your farm or your mountain
0:52:06 > 0:52:09- and you see this.- That must have been pretty stunning.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14- Are they recently acquired? - Yes. 2007.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17It's a real addition to our collection of sculpture.
0:52:17 > 0:52:22- There's just one favour that I wanted to ask you before we leave.- Sure.
0:52:22 > 0:52:27I know it might be a bit of an ask, but...you know that helmet?
0:52:27 > 0:52:30- Yes.- The fantastic samurai helmet?- Mm.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34- Would it be possible before the museum opens...- You want to wear it?
0:52:34 > 0:52:36You got it.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38- Please.- Go on, then.- What a guy.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51Now, one of the great challenges of any national museum is to grow
0:52:51 > 0:52:53and expand with the passing of time.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57And when the Rijksmuseum closed ten years ago, there was a huge gap
0:52:57 > 0:53:00in the way in which it told the story of the Dutch nation.
0:53:00 > 0:53:05It didn't have any object at all dating from after the end
0:53:05 > 0:53:06of the 19th century.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09In other words, the whole of the 20th century was a void.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19This is the new 20th-century wing of the Rijksmuseum,
0:53:19 > 0:53:22a collection bravely started from scratch.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26New additions include their very first abstract works.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30They also, I think rightly, celebrate design and architecture.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34The modern Dutch are a nation of makers.
0:53:35 > 0:53:41By completely reinventing the presentation of the collection,
0:53:41 > 0:53:45you also started to see where we have certain weaknesses,
0:53:45 > 0:53:47what our strengths are in the collection
0:53:47 > 0:53:50and what you would want to show the public when you reopen.
0:53:50 > 0:53:55So we started a collection of 20th-century art as well.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59That's setting the bar pretty high, because I imagine it's not that easy
0:53:59 > 0:54:00to get hold of a good Mondrian now.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03Exactly. Well, it's a long-term project.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05We now have some fantastic loans
0:54:05 > 0:54:10and maybe one day we'll be able to buy one. But we don't...
0:54:10 > 0:54:14- Maybe the right person will leave you one.- Exactly.
0:54:14 > 0:54:15That's what we always hope.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19But we wanted to be of the level of the 17th century,
0:54:19 > 0:54:2218th-century, 19th-century collection where, again,
0:54:22 > 0:54:27placing the art in a historical context is essential.
0:54:29 > 0:54:33I admire the museum's facing up to the bleaker parts
0:54:33 > 0:54:36of modern Dutch history, especially the Nazi occupation.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43Now, every object in this museum tells a story.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47But this object tells a particularly dark one.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51This chess set was presented by Himmler
0:54:51 > 0:54:58to the leader of the Dutch National Socialist movement in 1940.
0:54:58 > 0:55:03And what it represents is the territorial ambitions,
0:55:03 > 0:55:07the colonialist greed of the Nazi movement.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12The rooks are rocket launchers.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17Instead of a king and a queen, you've got bombs.
0:55:19 > 0:55:20Talk about war games.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23It's enough to send a shiver down your spine.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40I think the Rijksmuseum is more than a collection of objects.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43It's also a shrine to collective memory,
0:55:43 > 0:55:47and that's what this display case is all about.
0:55:47 > 0:55:53It houses the jacket worn by a German Jewish lady
0:55:53 > 0:55:57who had emigrated to Holland to try and find safety and had, in fact,
0:55:57 > 0:56:00been confined within one of Hitler's death camps.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04She survived, and this jacket, she kept it with her
0:56:04 > 0:56:06till the end of her life.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09She meticulously repaired it, as if...
0:56:11 > 0:56:15..somehow she needed an object to remind her of the pain
0:56:15 > 0:56:17that she had gone through and survived.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20And what's extraordinary about the story is that the jacket was
0:56:20 > 0:56:23gifted to the museum by the lady's daughter.
0:56:23 > 0:56:28There's a twist to the story, which is that the mother
0:56:28 > 0:56:32had never told the daughter that she'd been in the camp.
0:56:32 > 0:56:33It was a complete surprise.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50Coming to Amsterdam this week,
0:56:50 > 0:56:55I don't think I've ever felt more intense civic, national
0:56:55 > 0:56:59excitement about the opening, the reopening of a museum.
0:56:59 > 0:57:03I'm slightly nervous about it, because the entire organisation,
0:57:03 > 0:57:07all the people working here have put their heart in making the most
0:57:07 > 0:57:11beautiful thing, and we hope, of course, that when the public enters
0:57:11 > 0:57:15in millions, they will all kind of think the same.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17But that you only know once they are there.
0:57:21 > 0:57:25The closure of the Rijksmuseum was a big hole in national life.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28We missed it. We've been missing it too long.
0:57:28 > 0:57:31And when it closed down, it was going to be closed for only
0:57:31 > 0:57:33a couple of years, but it's taken ten years.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39It has been a bumpy road indeed. I mean, you run two marathons.
0:57:39 > 0:57:42One is the finish, and the day of the opening,
0:57:42 > 0:57:45and the second marathon starts at the day of the opening.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48So we're ready and we are thrilled and ready to do our job.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53Well, OK, it has been closed but here we are.
0:57:53 > 0:57:55- Hooray!- Hip, hip hurrah!
0:57:55 > 0:57:57Hip, hip hurrah!
0:57:57 > 0:58:01I'm so pleased that I can go back and see it all again.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03It's like old friends.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06Now, I have to own up,
0:58:06 > 0:58:09I've been a bit tough on the modern Dutch in my time.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12I've accused them of being more interested in money than art,
0:58:12 > 0:58:16more concerned with import and export than Rembrandt and Vermeer,
0:58:16 > 0:58:20more concerned with selling tulips than enjoying the spiritual ecstasy
0:58:20 > 0:58:22of a sunflower painting by van Gogh.
0:58:22 > 0:58:23But I have to say,
0:58:23 > 0:58:27the grand reopening of the Rijksmuseum has really made me
0:58:27 > 0:58:31think again. And I believe that now this place is open,
0:58:31 > 0:58:36the Dutch people truly will embrace it with all their hearts.
0:58:43 > 0:58:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd