Many people thought British actor Emma Watson would be in the Netherlands to film ‘The Miniaturist’, based on a book by Jessie Burton. The story is set in Amsterdam in 1686-1687, inspired by Petronella Oortman’s doll’s house on display at the Rijksmuseum. The more precise setting of the story is on the ‘Golden Bend’, what used to be the richest part of Amsterdam, depicted here around 1672 in a painting by Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde. Read up on the painting, it has quite a story to tell.

The funny thing is the few days of filming that took place in the Netherlands were done in Leiden, 45 kilometres down the road, and not in Amsterdam, which for anyone living in the capital is a bit odd. As far as the rest of the movie goes, it was mostly filmed in a studio in the United Kingdom.

According to the city of Leiden, Emma Watson was also in Leiden for the film, but production company Topkapi Films says that’s not the case, although the Dutch media still went with spreading rumours.

(Link: nieuws.nl, Photo: Rijksmuseum website)