Leiden University was founded in 1575 and is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university has seven faculties (six in Leiden and one in The Hague), with 33.701 students enrolled in 2025. In February you could read...
It is generally known that Rembrandt's Night Watch has been hanging in the Rijksmuseum since 1808. The painting originally hung continuously for 70 years in the Great Hall of the Kloveniersdoelen. In 1715, it was moved to Amsterdam City Hall / the Royal Palace on Dam Square...
The major Vermeer exhibition was held from 10 February to 4 June 2023. More than 650.000 people saw the Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum. This makes it the best-attended exhibition ever at the Amsterdam museum. From...
Unfortunately, I miscounted. I write a special blog for every 25 blogs, and that was actually intended for number 425. But for number 425, you read a different theme. Therefore, here is blog number 426 about 'The Standard Bearer'...
While compiling this article, I was in doubt: “Which headline should be placed above the article?” Neither of the following headlines made the cut, but I still don't want to withhold them from you: [1] Stamps with & without expressive power!...
You are about to be immersed in the Leiden of the Golden Age. The time when Rembrandt van Rijn grew up in Leiden. Where he took his first steps in painting and prepared to become the greatest...
When we talk about Rembrandt, we usually think immediately of his paintings. But what do we know about the person Rembrandt? In this blog, I will give you a glimpse into his private life, his life as a painter, his business life, and his love life....
Someone who is involved in guiding pregnancy and childbirth is called a midwife. In the past, it was 'vroedkundige'. A woman was a midwife, but a man was not a male midwife, but a master midwife. I could not have foreseen that....
900 years ago, in 1121, a chapel in Leiden for the Counts of Holland was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. The dedication was performed by Godebald, the Bishop of Utrecht. We know this oldest church in Leiden today...
It seems like yesterday, the first infection in the Netherlands. Then-Minister for Medical Care & Sport, Bruno Bruins, announced the news via a note during the TV broadcast on February 27, 2020. We are one year into the...
We are continuing with the corona blogs, as a lot has happened since the last blog on December 15 (Christmas Story). As of January 23, 2021, we are dealing with the introduction of the curfew. That means that everyone between 9:00 PM...
Leiden has come up with something new. Along the entire edge of the city center, the parks, squares, and cemeteries have been connected, and a walking route has been laid out. New bridges have been constructed at 5 locations for this purpose. So you are actually walking the...
Danaë: On the beautiful bed, in floodlight, lies a naked woman in an underexposed bedroom. The complexion of her skin contrasts delicately with the white sheets. Great tension is evoked by the raised hand, which in the same direction...
16 Years ago, Jan van der Horst from Dalfsen in Overijssel painted a copy of a self-portrait by Rembrandt. His wife's remark to this was: “You are nowhere near a Rembrandt with his Night Watch.” That very same day, Van der Horst decided to...
Valentine's Day is celebrated worldwide on February 14th; it is a day when lovers give each other extra attention with gifts. In the past, people declared their love anonymously on this day, often by sending an (anonymous) Valentine's card. What is it...
It is customary for a sheet of stamps to be 'read' like a book: each horizontal row of stamps is read from left to right and then continued on the horizontal row below. Nevertheless, over the years there have been deviating 'routes' on...
"*" indicates required fields
