Leiden University Libraries is a library founded in 1575 in Leiden, Netherlands. It is regarded as a significant place in the development of European culture: it is a part of a small number of cultural centres that gave direction to the development and spread of knowledge during the Enlightenment. This was due particularly to the simultaneous presence of a unique collection of exceptional sources and scholars. Holdings include approximately 5,200,000 volumes, 1,000,000 e-books, 70,000 e-journals, 2,000 current paper journals, 60,000 Oriental and Western manuscripts, 500,000 letters, 100,000 maps, 100,000 prints, 12,000 drawings, 300,000 photographs and 3,000 cuneiform tablets. The library manages the largest collections worldwide on Indonesia and the Caribbean. Furthermore, Leiden University Libraries is the only heritage organization in The Netherlands with five registrations of documents in UNESCO's international Memory of the World Register.
Gabriël Metsu (1629–1667) was a Dutch painter of history paintings, still lifes, portraits, and genre works. He was "a highly eclectic artist, who did not adhere to a consistent style, technique, or one type of subject for long periods". Only 14 of his 133 works are dated.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art. It is estimated Rembrandt produced a total of about three hundred paintings, three hundred etchings, and two thousand drawings.
The Fijnschilders, also called the Leiden Fijnschilders, were Dutch Golden Age painters who, from about 1630 to 1710, strove to create as natural a reproduction of reality as possible in their meticulously executed, often small-scale works.
Aertgen Claesz. van Leyden, also known as Allaert or Aert van Leyden or Aert Claesz. van Leyden, was a 16th-Century Dutch painter, draughtsman and designer of stained glass. Works by this artist can be found at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.
The Allegory of Faith, also known as Allegory of the Catholic Faith, is a Dutch Golden Age painting by Johannes Vermeer from about 1670–1672. It has been in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1931.
Isaak Nicolai or Isaac Claesz van Swanenburg was a Dutch Renaissance painter and glazier active in Leiden and Gouda. He was a city council member from 1576 and became mayor of Leiden five times.
Abraham van den Tempel was a Dutch Golden Age painter.
Thomas Scott Kaplan is an American businessman, philanthropist and art collector. He is the world's largest private collector of Rembrandt's works.
Jacobus Ludovicus Cornet, also known by his initials as J.L. Cornet, was a Dutch painter and draughtsman. He often depicted Dutch historic scenes and figures, contributing several paintings to Jacob de Vos Jacobszoon's gallery of oil paintings depicting scenes from Dutch history. Cornet also painted and drew portraits, landscapes, interiors and a range of other subjects.
A cloth hall or linen hall is a historic building located in the centre of the main marketplace of a European town. Cloth halls were built from medieval times into the 18th century.
Jacob Isaacszoon van Swanenburg was a Dutch painter, draftsman and art dealer. He was known for his city views, history paintings, Christian religious scenes and portraits. He spent a substantial part of his early career in Italy before returning to his native Leiden. He was the teacher of the young Rembrandt.
The Fries Museum is a museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. It has won the Global Fine Art Award which is sometimes nicknamed the Museum-Oscar.
History Painting is an early painting by Rembrandt dating to 1626. The title is a generic reference to history painting, as there is no consensus about the painting's subject matter. More than a dozen subjects have been proposed, ranging from Biblical themes to classical and modern history. Art historian Gary Schwartz says "the most tempting solution offered so far is Palamedes before Agamemnon", an episode from the Trojan War in which Agamemnon orders Palamedes stoned to death on the basis of planted evidence.
Museum Het Leids Wevershuis consists of one of the last remaining "weavers' homes" in Leiden, Netherlands. Built around 1560, the exterior, the large antique loom (1830) and the interior, are testimony of the once flourishing textile industry around Leiden, in particular during the 16th and 17th century, when many home weavers supplied the draper's guild with high quality woolen cloth.
The following is a timeline of the history of the municipality of Leiden, Netherlands.
The Senses is a series of five oil paintings, completed c. 1624 or 1625 by Rembrandt, depicting the five senses. The whereabouts of one, representing the sense of taste, is unknown. Another, representing smell, was only re-identified in 2015.
The Hostages is an 1896 oil on canvas painting created by French painter and sculptor Jean-Paul Laurens, the last in a series of historical works by him. He does not give a specific historical setting, although he evokes the Princes in the Tower and Richard III of England. It is now collected in the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon.
Suffer little children to come unto me or Let the Little Children Come to Me, is a painting attributed to the Dutch painter Rembrandt. The subject of the portrait is the teaching of Jesus about little children and it is estimated that Rembrandt painted it in Leiden in the 1620s.
Old Woman Reading, also known as Old Woman Reading a Lectionary, is an oil painting by the Dutch painter Gerrit Dou, made c. 1631–1632. In the past the work was attributed to Rembrandt and was titled Rembrandt's Mother, but this attribution has long been rejected. The portrait has been part of the collection of the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam, since November 1912.
