Quick tip – Rijksmuseum Public Domain Images

If you’re looking for images to illustrate your family tree or give you a sense of what life was like for your ancestors, check out the website of the Rijksmuseum. Many paintings, drawings, and etchings from their collection have been scanned and may be downloaded for free and reused for any purpose since they are in the public domain.

Try searching for the name of a town where your ancestors lived, or of an occupation they had. Use the Dutch words, since the collection is described in Dutch.

milk maid

The Milkmaid. Credits: Johannes Vermeer, collection Rijksmuseum (public domain)

About Yvette Hoitink

Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer in the Netherlands. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certification of Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials. Yvette served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists and won excellence awards for her articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. Yvette has been doing genealogy for over 30 years. She helps people from across the world find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.

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