Rembrandt's House. One of Amsterdam's more remarkable relics, this house was bought by Rembrandt, flush with success, for his family and is where he lived and worked between 1639 and 1658. Rembrandt chose this house on what was once the main street of the Jewish Quarter because he thought he could then experience daily and firsthand the faces he would use in his Old Testament religious paintings. Later Rembrandt lost the house to bankruptcy when he fell from popularity after the death of Saskia, his wife. When he showed a quick recovery -- and an open taste for servant girls -- after her death, his uncle-in-law, once his greatest champion, became his biggest detractor. Rembrandt's downfall was sealed: he came under attack by the Amsterdam burghers, who refused to accept his liaison with his amour, Hendrickje.

A recent expansion allowed the house interior to be restored to its original form -- complete with one of Rembrandt's printing presses, his rarities collection, and fully stocked studio (which is even now occasionally used by guest artists). The new gallery wing, complete with shop, café, and information center, is the only place in the world where his graphic work is on permanent display -- with 250 of the 290 prints that are known to have come from his hand, including the magisterial Hundred Guilder and the Three Crosses prints. Rembrandt was almost more revolutionary in his prints than in his paintings, so this collection deserves respectful homage, if not downright devotion, by printmakers today. COST: EUR7.