When Diego Met Rembrandt -- the Rematch

Two museums in two countries collaborate on a big exhibition, to be shown in both, and you tend to assume that, apart from a few tweaks, you'll see much the same in each city. What we weren't quite expecting when we went along to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam to see Rembrandt-Velázquez this month was to find not only a completely different approach to the show we'd seen at the Prado in Madrid during the summer, but for the most part a completely different set of paintings. 

The Prado exhibition bringing together the great Dutch and Spanish masters of the 17th century included some superlative pictures, but we were less than convinced by the curators' premise that, beneath the surface, there weren't really any national differences in the approach to art 400 years ago. It seemed a bit too much of an obvious pro-European political message and led to comparisons between paintings that we felt at times were rather contrived. 

This show in Amsterdam, by contrast, is smaller and tighter and seems a lot more focused. You're invited to look at mostly pairs of pictures -- one from Spain, one from the Netherlands -- with a common theme or concept. And the curators have gone far and wide to bring in interesting paintings, in contrast to the Madrid show that leaned heavily on the Prado's own collection for its Spanish pictures.

And some of these pairings are quite astonishing. Let's take one that the curators have chosen to illustrate the theme of total surrender, something that might be better translated into English as total commitment. For the Dutch side, we have Jan Asselijn's The Threatened Swan, defending the eggs in its nest with its wings outstretched against the dog you can see attacking in the bottom left. It was later interpreted as symbolising the Dutch statesman Johan de Witt protecting Holland against its enemies. 

And, really, what a fantastic idea to hang The Threatened Swan alongside this St Serapion by Francisco de Zurbarán, with the saint taking his last breath in the service of his Catholic faith. Those poses, the white of the swan's feathers and the saint's robes just work so well together. 

Neither of those paintings was on show in Madrid, but we were glad to see the repeat of a match made in heaven that was a highlight at the Prado show. The theme is serene religious feelings, and it's another Zurbarán, Agnus Dei, that's representing Spain. The bound sacrificial lamb, with its connotations of Christ on the cross, is painted straightforwardly yet in great detail. 

It's a similar size to this work by Pieter Saenredam of a Protestant church interior stripped of virtually all ornamentation, and an image that's similarly plain yet thoroughly detailed.

This show is entitled Rembrandt-Velázquez, but it feels a bit less dependent on its two star names than the Madrid exhibition. It's Rembrandt that welcomes you in, though, with this splendid Standard-Bearer from a private collection that we can't recall seeing before, and what a nice surprise that was. In the 350th-anniversary year of Rembrandt's death, we've started to get the feeling some of his paintings are following us around (though it's actually us following them around Europe....).

In the Madrid show, Nicolaes Maes's Old Woman in Prayer was presented as a counterpoint to Spanish religious paintings. In Amsterdam, it's more appropriately contrasted with Velázquez's Old Woman Frying Eggs, as we look at how the appreciation of everyday objects was reinforced by increased realism in 17th-century art. We're examining the textures of food, tableware, clothing, the sheen of keys and cutlery.

There's another splendid Velázquez in the shape of Vulcan's Forge, demonstrating the artistic challenge inherent in a complex composition involving a number of figures.  

Although this picture comes from the Prado, it wasn't shown in the exhibition there, but it makes an interesting contrast with Rembrandt's The Syndics. In both paintings, there's a surprise visitor; in Vulcan's Forge, it's Apollo, bringing news of the adultery of Vulcan's wife, Diana, with Mars. In The Syndics, the sudden arrival seems to be you, the viewer, interrupting the work of the sampling officials of the draper's guild whose eyes turn to you as you enter the room where they're meeting.

Not quite everything in this show worked for us. On the theme of charity, group portraits by Frans Hals showing almshouse regents sit rather incongruously alongside Juan de Valdés Leal's Finis Gloriae Mundi, in which a rotting corpse warns of the importance of leading a charitable life on earth to ensure life after death. And we weren't totally taken by the skin-like-parchment link between Jan Lievens' Still Life with Books and Jusepe de Ribera's St Paul the Hermit. 

But overall, this is a really fine show, with some stupendous paintings, including Johannes Vermeer's The Little Street. And in the second leg of this epic match-up, it's a clear win for the Rijksmuseum over the Prado. 

Practicalities

Rembrandt-Velázquez runs at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam until January 19. It's open daily from 0900 to 1700. Full-price tickets to the museum, including the show, are 20 euros, or 19 euros booked online here. You'll need to reserve a timeslot to see the exhibition when you buy your ticket. The gallery is situated in the museum quarter in the south-west of the city centre and is easily accessible by tram, using Vijzelgracht Metro station or via a direct bus from Schiphol airport. 9292.nl is an excellent site that gives you public-transport connections across the Netherlands.

While you're in the Rijksmuseum

Visit the Gallery of Honour for the museum's line-up of the rest of the greatest works from its Dutch Golden Age collection. Pride of place goes, of course, to Rembrandt's The Night Watch, currently being restored live in situ behind a glass screen. But don't miss, either, three stunning works by Vermeer: The Milkmaid, Woman Reading a Letter and, sometimes almost ignored by the camera-clicking crowd among all the other masterpieces on display, The Love Letter.

Images

Jan Asselijn, The Threatened Swan, c. 1650, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Francisco de Zurbarán, St Serapion, 1628, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Standard-Bearer, 1636, Private collection
Francisco de Zurbarán, Agnus Dei, 1635-40, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Pieter Saenredam, Interior of the St Odulphuskerk in Assendelft, 1649, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Nicolaes Maes, Old Woman in Prayer, c. 1656, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Diego Velázquez, Old Woman Frying Eggs, 1618, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh

Diego Velázquez, Vulcan's Forge, 1630, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid