It was my first time playing an escape game and it was even more special since it was played in Rijksmuseum!
The main hall of the museum. One has to pass the security check before entering the museum. The museum entrance ticket alone cost EUR 19 per adult if you buy it online or EUR 20 if you buy it at ticket counter. If you want to participate in the escape game (time limited), it’s EUR 35.27 in total.
To play the escape game, first, I received an envelope with 3 challenges. There are two level of difficultness, one for the beginners (estimated time 1.5 hours), another for experts (2.5 hours). I chose the beginner level, of course. It can be played by a single player like me, or played by a group of people.
Then, I watched a video as an introduction to the escape game.
Something was stolen from the museum. And I must solved the first three riddles and find the secret office of Bert to help him solve the mystery.
My first clue after opening the envelope. I had to find the location first and look for the clue there. Then I had to fill in the coordinates to know the location of the secret office.
This is the ship mentioned in the map. The clue is ‘Nothing is what it seems. Is the truth hidden underneath the benches?’ I had to look underneath the bench for the coordinates!
A sculpture at the main hall.
My next clue is at the ‘Picknick’.
The ‘Picknick’ was not opened. However, the clue lies in one of the window display.
Looking for the last clue, I entered the Asian Pavilion.
In the early 20th century, Dutch connoisseurs began to seriously study and collect the arts of Asia. The display on the first floor shows a selection of works from India, Indonesia and Cambodia.
My next clue is located at the basement level of Asian Pavilion: ‘Look at the guards. The truth casts its shadow forward.’
This is a Temple Guard statue from Japan, dated back to 14th century. The shadow casted a ‘0’. Now I got my three clues and the coordinates to the secret room. I was given the next set of challenges to solve the case.
But of course, I still want to wander around and admire the countless art in the museum.
This is a seven panel oil painting. A Dutch city is the backdrop to this narrative that shows a good Christian should help those in need. Christ stands among the spectators in almost every panel.
This exquisite portable altar was intended for private devotion. Open, the altar presented a poignant image of Christ as the Man of Sorrows’ standing in his tomb and pointing at the wounds caused by his crucifixion. This helped the believer to identify with Christ’s suffering.
I moved on to the Gallery of Honour on 2nd floor. This is where you’ll find the most famous paintings in the museum. For example, ‘The Milkmaid’ by Johannes Vermeer (1632 – 1675). It depicts a milk servant pours milk, entirely absorbed in her work.
This painting is called ‘The Threatened Swan’ by Jan Asselijn (1650). The swan flies up, fiercely defending its eggs from the dog swimming towards them.
Rembrandt’s masterpiece, the 'Night Watch’ is the centerpiece in the museum, located right the middle of the gallery. It was unsurprisingly surrounded by people.
‘Night Watch’ is a group painting of a company of Amsterdam ‘militiamen’, the city’s civic guard. Rembrandt made the painting in 1642 for their guild headquarters. Standing in the foreground are Captain Frans Banninck Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch. The captain, in black, is giving an order.
Frans Hals from outside the city, Haarlem’ was asked to paint this group portrait. However, he soon found himself at odds with the guardsmen, and the Amsterdam painter, Pieter Codde had to step in to finish the seven figures on the right.
This painting ‘Satyr and Nymph’ depicts a laughing satyr leans towards a nymph, gently stroking her face. Her playful response to his gesture is nothing short of bold for a 17th century Dutch painting.
‘The Massacre of the Innocents’ painted in 1590. When Herod, the King of Judea, learned that a child destined to become ‘King of the Jews’ would be born in Bethlehem, he ordered the slaughter of all boys under the age of two. At lower part of the painting, a soldier slits a child’s throat, while above them a woman gouges out a solder’s eyes.
‘The Fall of Man’ (1592). In the left corner, we see God (a cloud with a human face and hands) cautioning Adam and Eve. Tempted by the serpent with a human torso, Adam and Eve nonetheless eat the forbidden fruit, for which they were driven from Paradise.
‘Lot and his Daughters’ by Hendrick Goltzius. God decided to destroy the sinful city of Sodom, sparing only the righteous Lot and his family. Because Lot’s daughters were afraid of remaining childless – all of the men had perished – they got their father drunk and seduced him.
‘Banquet Still Life’ by Adriaen van Utrecht in 1644. The painter demonstrated that he could paint virtually anything, from the costly tableware to glass, fruit, an enormous lobster on a Chinese plate, a cut-open pastry and much more.
A Young Woman Warming Her Hands Over a Brazier. She personifies Winter. This season was usually represented as a shabbily dressed old man or woman because the year is coming to an end and crops do not grow in the winter. Van Everdingen’s choice of a young and attractive woman is thus rather unusual.
‘The Merry Family’ depicts this boisterous family is making a lot of noise. The note hanging from the mantelpiece gives away the moral of the story: ‘As the old sing, so shall the young twitter.’ What will become of the children if their parents set the wrong example?
Four female caryatids (weight bearing sculpted figures) personifying Remorse (with their hands covering their face) and Penance (with bound hands).
An angel sculpture.
A self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh at the first floor. Vincent moved to Paris in 1886. He did this mostly to avoid having to pay for a model. He portrayed himself here as a fashionably dressed Parisian.
‘Two Mothers’ The statue shows a young woman holding her child, with her dog’s puppies gathered in her apron.
Waterloo and King William I. When the French were driven from the Netherlands in 1813, the House of Orange returned to power. At the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the northern and southern Netherlands were combined in a single kingdom, under King William I.
This is a very large painting as you can see, from floor to ceiling.
Louise Napoleon made Amsterdam the capital of his kingdom. On 31 July 1806, he had important trophies, transported to Amsterdam from Hague. The convoy was headed by this banner, whose text translates as “Louise Napoleon, King of Holland, presents to his capital Amsterdam these trophies seized by brave Netherlanders from their enemies.”
Portrait of Emperor Napoleon I.
Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to finish the game. I got stuck on the second half of the game and I ended up spending more time admiring the art works and paintings in the museum than actually participating in the escape game.
Overall, it’s a great experience, I didn’t regret it but it’s probably more fun if I had someone to play the game with me.
Rijksmuseum
Opening hours: 9am to 5pm daily, all days of the year
Adults: € 20.00 (online € 19,00)
Children aged 18 and under: free admission
Museumkaart holders also have free entrance
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en
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