Amsterdam goes all out to promote 2006 as the Rembrandt Year

Dutch painter born in 1606

AMSTERDAM - The 400th anniversary of the birthday of famous painter Rembrandt van Rijn will become a grand, international celebration in 2006, if an Amsterdam committee has its way. Organizers of the Rembrandt Year, among which the Amsterdam Tourism and Congress Bureau, have unveiled plans for an initial series of events.

A special walk will allow visitors to follow the footsteps of the Dutch Master through the city where he lived and worked for most of his life. Rembrandt was born in the town of Leiden.

Other special events include a musical ‘The women of Rembrandt' which will play in the well-known Carré theatre. Among the highlights of the year also will be the exhibit ‘Rembrandt & Caravaggio, a meeting between two geniuses of the Northern and Southern Baroque.' The event will be held at the Rijksmuseum, and include an estimated 25 masterpieces on loan from collections throughout the world.

Participants

A central role will be given to the Museum Rembrandthuis, the home of the painter for more than twenty years. In the new exhibit hall adjacent to the house, four consecutive exhibitions will be mounted, beginning in December 2005. One of these will focus on the long artistic crisis Rembrandt suffered after the death of his wife Saskia in 1652.

The Amsterdam Jewish Historical Museum plans the exhibit ‘How Jewish Rembrandt Was,' while an exhibit at the Biblical Museum will focus on Rembrandt's etchings and the inspiration he found for them in the Bible. The Municipal Archives will show a number of the most important Rembrandt documents from its collection.

While Amsterdam goes all out for the Rembrandt Year, the municipality of Leiden is scaling back its own plans for participation. Budget restraints and a lack of corporate sponsors have forced Leiden to pare down its lofty goals.