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Cornelis Anthonisz’s 1538 map of Amsterdam (the oldest extant) includes the Dam, Oude Kerk and Nieuwe Kerk.

Hendrik Corneliszoon Vroom’s painting (1599) celebrates the first successful expedition to the Far East to buy spices.

A pair of costly globes lent prestige to any self-respecting 17th-century intellectual. Joan Willemsz Blaeu must have made this unique pair after 1644 because they show the Australian coast, just discovered by Abel Tasman.

Sophia Lopez Suasso-de Bruijn was a passionate collector of jewellery; even on her deathbed, she spent 5,400 guilders on watches and snuffboxes. Most of the stunning pieces on display are Italian.

George Hendrik Breitner based his cityscapes on photographs; despite its Impressionist style, this famous painting (1895– 98) still has a photographic quality.

This exquisite mother-of-pearlturbo marmoratus is covered in tiny engraved animals. It dates from around 1650 and was probably brought from the Orient by the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

Nicolaas van der Waaij’s charming painting of around 1895 hangs in the anteroom to the Regents’ Chamber.

This powerful bronze head was made in 1934 by Tjipke Visser, favourite sculptor of the Social Democratic Workers’ Party (SDAP). The subject was Floor Wibaut, SDAP Councillor for housing in the 1920s, who dedicated himself to building new apartments for the working class.

In Rembrandt’s original, eight surgeons watched Dr Deijman dissect a corpse. Fire destroyed most of the painting in 1723, but the frontal perspective of the remaining group is still quite remarkable.

This wonderful model of the Oosterdok Lock dates from 1831, the year work started on the lock itself. It was part of a larger project to counteract a build-up of silt, which barred large ships from the harbour.