The
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (English: National Museum of
Antiquities) is the national archaeological museum of
the Netherlands
. It is located in Leiden
. The
Museum grew out of the collection of
Leiden University and still closely
co-operates with its Faculty of Archaeology. The museum calls
itself
the national center for archaeology, and focuses on
ancient Egypt, the
ancient Near East, the classical world of
Greece,
Etruria and
Rome and the
early (prehistoric, Roman and Medieval) Netherlands.
Current collection
The current collection of the museum is divided in the following
categories:
In the central hall of the museum stands an original Egyptian
temple, the
Temple of Taffeh, which
was taken apart in Egypt and reconstructed in the museum.
History of the collection
Reuvens takes charge
The collection of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden began with an
inheritance in 1743. After the death of
Gerard van Papenbroek his
collection was bequeathed to
Leiden University. The bequest comprised
about 150 antiquities and was published in 1746 by a professor of
the university. It was put on public display, but poorly taken care
of until half a century later it would finally get an official
curator. This curator was classicist dr.
Caspar Reuvens, the world's first
archaeology professor. Along with his duties as
a professor at the university came the care of the archaeological
cabinet, then consisting mainly of the Papenbroek
inheritance.
Reuvens quickly added other collections from both within and
outside Leiden to the university's antiquities.
Antiquities from the
Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam
were transferred to Leiden with government support
in 1825. Some pieces from the
Thoms Collection were among the favorites
of the director of the Amsterdam museum. It was agreed that these
would not be moved to Leiden until after his directorship. These
became part of the Leiden collection in 1844. In 1826 a collection
of prehistorical materials arrived from the Museum of Natural
History.
The contributions of Rottiers
The growth of the National Museum of Antiquities would prove to be
depended much more upon foreign investments. Despite the gathering
of antiquities from various Dutch organizations, the really
important additions to the museum would come from buying personal
collections. Among the first of these was the first
Rottiers Collection.
It belonged to a
retired Flemish colonel who had begun collecting during a stay in
Athens
. In 1820 this collection was offered to the
government of the Low Countries, and Reuvens was sent to determine
its value and recommend on whether to buy or not. Reuvens was
enthusiastic about the collection because it contained original
Greek sculpture and Greek pottery, categories which lacked in the
Leiden collection until then. Cautioning the ministry not to buy at
any price, the Rottiers collection was eventually sold for the sum
of 12,000 guilders and placed in the National Museum of
Antiquities.
In 1822 Rottiers sold a second collection, of smaller importance,
to the government. The best piece in this collection would later
turn out to be a modern cast of a marble head, a forgery. With both
the first and the second Rottiers collections the origins would
remain shady. In both cases it was hinted or outright claimed that
Rottiers respectively his son had dug up at least part of the
antiquities themselves. However in both cases it would turn out
that perhaps all of the collection was bought. Rottiers also
repeatedly admitted to selling forgeries and misleading buyers, but
told Reuvens that he would never do so to him and that his earlier
mistakes were youthful folly.
From 1824 to 1826 Rottiers made a journey through the
Mediterranean, paid for by the ministry. This journey was Rottiers
own idea, and the purpose of it was to buy antiquities. Reuvens,
who was not very enthusiastic about this project, was asked to
provide Rottiers with instructions. During these travels Rottiers
complained a lot, and for a while failed to produce any real
results. The ministry had to go as far as send him an official
warning to stop using government funds for anything other than
buying antiquities.
Plans of Rottiers to start his own
excavations were never discussed with Reuvens, and eventually
Rottiers actually excavated on Melos
.
After this excavation Rottiers continued his travels and bought
antiquities.
During a lengthy stay on Rhodes
he studied
and described the medieval architecture, large parts of which would
later be destroyed making the drawings commissioned by Rottiers
invaluable.
In March and September 1826 the museum received the acquired
antiquities. Reuvens wrote a largely negative report. Though he was
pleased with some of the pieces, most were hardly special and
Rottiers had not provided substantial background information.
The contributions of Humbert
Rottiers was not the only agent working for the Dutch government
procuring antiquities however.
While Rottiers was working in the eastern
Mediterranean, Jean Emile Humbert
was collecting and excavating in Tunisia
.
After selling his personal collection to the government, Humbert
was asked to return to Tunisia on an archaeological expedition.
Raised to the
Order of the
Netherlands Lion, with instructions from Reuvens and with a
state-funded budget Humbert would collect and excavate antiquities
in Tunisia from 1822 to 1824. Most important about this first
expedition by Humbert was the acquisition of eight statues, which
are still on display as centerpieces in the museum.
A second expedition by Humbert never reached Tunisia because
Humbert preferred staying in Italy. Despite this blatant disregard
of the agreements, the expedition did produce some considerable
results. A collection of
Etruscan
artifacts, known as the
Museo Corazzi, was bought for over
30.000 guilders but pleased Reuvens because Etruscan antiquities
were virtually unknown outside Italy at the time.By far the most
important deal of the expedition was the acquisition of the very
large d'Anasty Collection of Egyptian antiquities. After a lengthy
period of negotiations by the Dutch ambassador in Rome and Humbert
with agents of d'Anasty the collection was eventually sold for
roughly 115.000 guilders. It would be the largest deal in the
careers of Humbert and Reuvens both, and provided the museum with
an internationally appraised Egyptian collection.
Death of Reuvens
In the final years of Reuvens' life there was a severe decline in
governmental support for the museum. The rebellion and seceding of
Belgium in 1830 were costly matters for the king, and little to no
room was found for adventurous expeditions or excavations.Reuvens
died in 1835, after suffering what seems to be a severe stroke by
the reports. He left behind a young museum with a scholarly
renowned collection, which had grown from the Papenbroek
inheritance to now include a large amount of Etruscan, Egyptian,
Carthaginian, Roman, Greek and other items.
Leemans takes over
After his death Reuvens work was taken over by his student Conrad
Leemans who had excavated with Reuvens and was present at his
death. As described below, under Leemans the museum would finally
get its own building. Prospects for continuing the growth of the
collection looked bleak however, after royal interest waned and
with the enormous cost of the d'Anasty deal still in mind. Leemans
found a solution by using the official gazette to appeal private
collectors, Dutch ambassadors and consuls for donations and aid in
building the collection. The appeal was successful and objects from
all over the world kept flowing in.
In 1839 Leemans, now appointed director, bought some 100 vases with
funds from the king. They belonged to a collection that had been
excavated a decade before in Italy. Leemans published this
collection in 1840, and had published the Egyptian collection the
year before. The Etruscan collection was published by a colleague.
Publications would continue and the next period in the history of
the museum is described as "a period of consolidation after the
restless pioneer years".
History of the housing
Before and under Reuvens
Finding an adequate building for the archaeological collection had
been a matter of ongoing strife between Reuvens, the trustees of
the museum and the Dutch government. When Reuvens was first
appointed professor of archaeology and thereby curator of the
Papenbroek collection, the antiquities were housed in a building of
the botanical gardens of the university. The damp atmosphere caused
serious damage to the sculptures however, and the collection had
already outgrown its housing which resulted in several statues
being placed outside.
In 1821 the archaeological cabinet was moved to a new wing of the
Museum of Natural History. Reuvens was unhappy with this location
as well though, because it was much too small for the growing
collection and because the windows provided far from enough light.
In 1824 Reuvens was offered some more room of the Museum of Natural
History, but Reuvens refused the insufficient extra space and
proposed an entirely new building designed especially for the
National Museum of Antiquities which would also give him a lecture
hall, restoration facilities and other required rooms. Reuvens
plans for this new building would prove much too expensive
unfortunately.
The collection continued growing however and the room granted to it
was obviously insufficient. Several other solutions were sought,
including redecorating a medieval church and giving Reuvens part of
a new academy building. Reuvens refused these options however,
because they weren't real solutions. This led to considering a much
more drastic plan: moving the museum altogether to another city.
Brussels
, Amsterdam
and the
Hague
were considered. Reuvens argued against all
of these, using Leiden's thriving academic climate in the
humanities as a main argument for keeping the collection there.
Eventually Amsterdam became the prime candidate, being the capital
of the Netherlands and Brussels having seceded from the kingdom
along with the rest of Belgium. Before the relocation could begin
however, the academic world was shocked by the unexpected death of
the still young Reuvens.
Under Leemans
Reuvens' student Conrad Leemans was appointed temporary curator of
the collection and was asked to compile reports on the state of the
museum and Reuvens' intended publications. Leemans followed Reuvens
in complaining about the poor state of the antiquities due to
limited finances and a poor housing. In November 1835 a turning
event occurred for the museum when the university bought an
18th-century mansion and offered to place the collection there.
Leemans set to work in redecorating the mansion and moving the
collection to the new building. Budgetary problems and the
difficulties of transporting some of the largest pieces through the
city were eventually overcome, and in August 1838 the National
Museum of Antiquities finally had its official opening for the
public. Reuvens' collection had grown to a real museum.
See also
References
- WWW.RMO.NLHet
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden - National Museum of Antiquities - Beleef
Geniet Bewonder
- Halbertsma, R. B. (2003). Scholars, Travellers, and Trade:
The Pioneer Years of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden,
1818-1840, Routledge, p. 20
- Halbertsma, R. B. (2003). Scholars, Travellers, and Trade:
The Pioneer Years of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden,
1818-1840, Routledge, p. 34-43
- Halbertsma, R. B. (2003). Scholars, Travellers, and Trade:
The Pioneer Years of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden,
1818-1840, Routledge, p. 67-70
- Halbertsma, R. B. (2003). Scholars, Travellers, and Trade:
The Pioneer Years of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden,
1818-1840, Routledge, p. 142-3
- Halbertsma, R. B. (2003). Scholars, Travellers, and Trade:
The Pioneer Years of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden,
1818-1840, Routledge, p. 152
Further reading
- Halbertsma, R. B. (2003). Scholars, Travellers, and Trade:
The Pioneer Years of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden,
1818-1840, Routledge.
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