Symposium Exhibiting the domestic past at the Rijksmuseum

An intimate look behind the front doors of Dutch city homes

The symposium Exhibiting the Domestic Past offers a forum to explore the findings and questions raised by the exhibition At Home in the 17th Century. The symposium aims to encourage dialogue across disciplines - from history, art history and architectural history to archaeology and anthropology. Together, these perspectives will deepen our understanding of a subject that is relatively understudied and yet deeply familiar.

The exhibition and its accompanying publication offer an intimate look behind the front doors of Dutch city homes in the seventeenth century, revealing how daily routines such as eating, sleeping, and cleaning were interwoven with broader aspects of life, including child-rearing and religious practice.

We thank the exhibition At Home in the 17th Century is made possible by Rijksmuseum Friends, Stichting Zabawas, Stichting Thurkowfonds and through the Rijksmuseum Fonds: Fonds Dirk Jan van Orden, Lucy en Bas van der Vlist Fonds, Sara Geertruida Aalders-Huender Fonds, Fonds Sascha Ladenius and a private donor.