Guided tour · Detective · Detective

Look closer

Seven famous works, each with a small detail most people miss. Find it yourself, then hear its story.

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Works

7

Time

about 9 min

Collections

2

About this tour

Seven works, each with a hidden detail. At every work, read the clue and tap the picture where you find it. If you get stuck, a hint follows after two tries.

Our first case is a wave from Japan.

The 7 works

1. 

   Work 1 of 7

   Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)

   Katsushika Hokusai · about 1830–32 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

   A giant wave is about to fall on three boats. But a mountain is hiding in this picture too. Can you find it?

   Mount Fuji, small and calm, framed by the wave.

   Hokusai made this print around 1830 to 1832 for his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, so the mountain had to be in every picture. Here the most famous mountain in Japan looks tiny next to the sea.

2. 

   Work 2 of 7

   Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake

   Utagawa Hiroshige · 1857 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

   People hurry across a bridge in a sudden shower. Someone else is out on the river. Can you find him?

   A man poling a long raft through the rain.

   Hiroshige made this print in 1857 for his series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, today's Tokyo. The rain is cut into the woodblock as fine dark lines. Van Gogh admired it so much that he painted his own copy.

3. 

   Work 3 of 7

   The Land of Cockaigne

   attributed to Pieter van der Heyden, after Pieter Bruegel the Elder · after 1570? · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

   In the Land of Cockaigne, food comes to you by itself. Something is walking towards the sleepers on little legs. Can you find it?

   An egg, with a knife stuck in it, walking on little legs.

   This print follows a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A soldier and a farmer sleep off their feast and a clerk waits for more to drink, while a roast pig runs past with a knife in its back. It pokes fun at gluttony and laziness.

4. 

   Work 4 of 7

   Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters

   Hendrick Avercamp · about 1608 · Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

   Hundreds of people are out on the ice. One of them has just fallen over. Can you find him?

   A skater flat on his back, legs in the air.

   Hendrick Avercamp painted this winter scene around 1608, when frozen rivers and canals became meeting places for everyone, rich and poor. Avercamp could not speak; he watched people closely and filled his pictures with little stories.

5. 

   Work 5 of 7

   The Night Watch

   Rembrandt van Rijn · 1642 · Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

   Rembrandt's most famous painting is full of men with weapons. But a girl is walking among them. Can you find her?

   A girl in golden yellow, with a chicken hanging from her belt.

   Rembrandt painted this company of Amsterdam's civic guard in 1642. The girl may stand for the company itself: the claws of the chicken were its emblem. Instead of a neat row of portraits, Rembrandt painted everyone on the move.

6. 

   Work 6 of 7

   The Threatened Swan

   Jan Asselijn · about 1650 · Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

   This swan is defending its nest with all its strength. Against what? Find the intruder.

   A dog, swimming towards the nest.

   Jan Asselijn painted this around 1650. Later, words were added, and the swan came to stand for Johan de Witt, a Dutch statesman defending his country. In 1800 it was the first painting bought for the national art gallery that became the Rijksmuseum.

7. 

   Work 7 of 7

   The Milkmaid

   Johannes Vermeer · about 1660 · Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

   A maid pours milk, very carefully. On the floor stands something that kept feet warm. Can you find it?

   A foot warmer: a small wooden box that held a pot of glowing coals.

   Johannes Vermeer painted The Milkmaid around 1660. Even the bread, the jug and the nail holes in the wall are painted with great care. Look at the small tiles beside the foot warmer: one shows Cupid, the god of love.

The end of the tour

A mountain, a raft, a walking egg, a fallen skater, a girl with a chicken, a dog and a foot warmer: small details often tell the biggest stories.

Start this tour in Auriaan

Works from these collections

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Rijksmuseum

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