'At home in the 17th century': a day in the life of a household in 17th-century Holland

Walking through the halls of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam until 11 January 2026, visitors can immerse themselves in the everyday life of Dutch people in the Golden Age thanks to the exhibition 'At Home in the 17th Century'. This is not just an exhibition of antique objects: rather, it is an emotional and scenic journey through how the inhabitants of the Netherlands lived, worked, ate, played, prayed and mourned during the course of a day, from dawn until the moment the candles went out.

The exhibition has been conceived as an immersive journey, designed by Steef de Jong, who has created nine dioramas, small stage sets that act as windows into everyday life in the 17th century. Each showcase tells a story: objects, furnishings and details of domestic life are related to each other, forming a coherent and fascinating narrative.

Furniture and cupboards with original linens are shown to recreate the domestic environment, allowing the link between art and everyday life to be perceived. Along the way, visitors also discover everyday objects such as crockery and utensils that give a realistic picture of everyday life, showing the differences between social classes and generations. At the heart of the exhibition are also the famous dolls' houses by Petronella Oortman and Petronella Dunois, from the Museum's permanent collection and true miniature masterpieces of high craftsmanship, mirrors of the aesthetic and social ideals of the time.

Personal stories flesh out the story: the Zeelandic Boudaen Courten family is told through gilded furnishings, portraits and written memories: heirlooms brought together for the first time in centuries. The portrait of the young Eva Wtewael, painted by her father, the Utrecht painter Joachim, shows her seated at the house table, embroidery on her lap and a prayer book beside her, the embodiment of the ideal woman of the house, a destiny that will be cut short by her untimely death seven years after the painting was made.

The exhibition's approach is also archaeological: the 'beerputten', the ancient septic tanks of the families, reveal surprising details about the food life of the citizens, such as that of the members of Burgomaster Sonck's family, which returns food scraps and kitchen utensils, displayed next to their sumptuous portrait by Jan Albertsz Rotius. Also on display are many archaeological remains from Amsterdam's Vlooienburg district, which primarily tell the story of the Sephardic Jews who, having immigrated from Spain and Portugal, brought with them pottery and tastes of home: concrete details that make everyday life in the 17th century tangible, showing food and thus social habits in a surprisingly vivid manner.