Dutch culture vultures

We managed to maneuver our full bellies toward some culture as well, and saw the incredible Rijksmuseum! The front of the building was draped with Ukrainian flags, in solidarity, and the guts of the building are full to bursting with old Dutch masters. 

The cute dog on the left was spotted at Cafe Gollem, and he bears a striking resemblance to this self-portrait of Rembrandt, no? If you enjoy Rembrandt, this museum will slake that thirst, and of course, there's several other museums around Amsterdam that have even more of his work. We enjoy fine art, as well as Lego art, sometimes equally, because we are plebians with lowbrow taste. 

The Rijksmuseum has started a noteworthy campaign to acknowledge the history of enslavement enabled by the Dutch traders, and this addendum to a portrait plaque provides some much-needed historical context to both the painting, as well as the circumstances surrounding the wealth of the patron, and the influence of enslaved peoples on Dutch culture. It's a small gesture, but every time I saw one of these next to a painting, I moseyed over, even if that painting hadn't caught my eye on its own merit. Learning a more holistic view of Dutch culture was refreshing, and in stark contrast to other museums that pretend as though the art exists in a vacuum, or that the wealth of that nation isn't built atop the bodies of those they colonized (cough, cough, THE BRITISH MUSEUM).