‘People Are Here Being Crushed for the Love of Art’
To stimulate Dutch art appreciation, Louis Napoleon (the king of Holland between 1806 and 1810) took the initiative of organizing exhibitions of works by contemporary Dutch artists. The first of them, depicted here, was mounted in the Royal Palace on Dam Square and flooded with visitors. On the day of the opening of this exhibition, the palace also opened the Royal Museum, the predecessor of the Rijksmuseum, which was accommodated there as well.