Teylers Museum

Teylers Museum Review

Just north of the Waag (the Weigh House, built entirely of stone in 1598 and now a plesasant little café), Teylers is housed in a grand 18th-century building with mosaic floors and is the best sort of small museum. It is based on the eclectic whims of an eccentric private collector, in this case the 18th-century merchant Pieter Teyler van der Hulst. Founded in 1784, it's the country's oldest museum and has a mixture of exhibits—fossils and minerals sit alongside antique scientific instruments, such as a battery of 25 Leiden jars, dating from 1789 and used to store an electric charge. The major artistic attraction is a legendary collection of drawings and prints by Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Raphael, and other old masters that once belonged to Queen Christina of Sweden.