Still room for more visitors at Rijksmuseum, says director

Although the Late Rembrandt exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was quite busy, there is still room for more, according to director Wim Pijbes. "There were times when it was very busy, but we did not reach the hourly maximum number of visitors in the halls," Pijbes said to the Parool. "So there is still room for growth." On Sunday, the museum announced that the exhibition had attracted more than half a million people since its opening in mid-February. This number made it the most visited exhibition in the history of Rijksmuseum, "With the late Rembrandt, we reached the top," Pijbes said on Monday. Many in Amsterdam raised concerns of tourists overcrowding the national gallery, which Pijbes initially brushed off as nonsense. Later, he said in fact the Late Rembrandt exhibition was too crowded at times, saying they could do more to accommodate more patrons throughout the entire day. The director said he was not concerned about the safety of approximately 40 paintings. "We have taken adequate security measures," he commented. The Late Rembrandt was an expensive exhibition with paintings loaned from around the world. Pijbes estimated the costs of the event at five million euros, including the 1.5-million euro insurance premium.