The Rijksmuseum waived their entrance fees as Rembrandt’s The Standard Bearer (1636) was put on display for the first time, after it was toured around the country following its purchase in 2021.

The Rijksmuseum purchased the famous Dutch Golden Age artist’s self-portrait The Standard Bearer in 2021 for the huge sum of €175 million. It had been in the collection of the French Rothschilds since 1844, and France attempted to put an export ban on the work when it was sold, considering it a national treasure. After much diplomatic back-and-forth, the Dutch government finally were able to purchase the work. The Rembrandt Association contributed €15 million and the Rijksmuseum Fund gave a further €10 million to the cause, with the Dutch government producing the majority of the purchase price. The painting shows the artist dressed in historical costume in the character of a standard bearer, which was an important soldier who rode out first into battle ahead of troops in the Eighty Years’ War, the war of independence which led to the establishment of the Netherlands as a country in 1648. The painting is thus closely associated with Dutch history and national identity and has been described as “inextricably linked to the history of the Netherlands.”

Rembrandt painted it at the age of 30 and it has been considered to be a prelude or a sample work for The Night Watch, the famous group portrait of the Amsterdam militia which he painted in 1642. The pair will hang side by side at the Rijksmuseum. Taco Dibbits, the director of the Rijksmuseum, has said that, “The Standard Bearer is one of the great self-portraits of Rembrandt and his artistic breakthrough. Proud and disarming at the same time it is a tribute to humanity.” Dibbits added that the Rijksmuseum acquisition of this work is, in his opinion, the museum’s greatest triumph during his period as director, above even the hugely successful recent Vermeer exhibition.

After the painting’s purchase, it went on tour around the Netherlands. According to a Rijksmuseum’s spokesperson, “the tour enabled everyone in the Netherlands to see this masterpiece, without having to travel far. In every province at least one day the entry to the museum displaying The Standard Bearer was free. Therefore, everyone could see the painting for free as well.” To celebrate its return to the Rijksmuseum, the museum opened its doors free of charge, allowing visitors to enjoy two of the most famous Rembrandt paintings – The Standard Bearer and The Night Watch – side by side for the first time.