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An anonymous painter s Enslaved Men Digging Trenches (c1850), part of Slavery at the Rijksmuseum Credit: Rijksmuseum Hanging from the ceiling at the Rijksmuseum, like a beautiful chandelier, are hundreds of sparkling blue glass beads. They’re thought to have been used as currency by people enslaved by the Dutch on the Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius. Local legend has it that the beads were thrown into the sea when, after a series of mass escapes, the slaves won their freedom. Today, when those same beads re-emerge from the waves, some see them as precious trophies. This deep-blue painted room is part of Slavery, an extraordinary new exhibition launched this week at the Rijksmuseum, which delves for the first time into this aspect of Dutch history. Through artefacts, church records, letters, paintings, maps, oral history and songs, it tells the stories of 10 people whose lives were involved in slavery – as slave holders, enslaved people and freedom fighters.

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