Holy crowds, batman

We made it in to Rijksmuseum (Rijks pronounced as in bikes, get the irony?). I had a laundry list of paintings I've been wanting to see for years. I also wanted to see the inside of the museum after learning more about the renovations. Besides the controversy about the entrance (yuck), the wall colours were another battle. So I couldn't wait.
In my opinion, the museum, once you are inside, is beyond gorgeous. The galleries are stunning, the original entrance and decoration, now on the second floor, is treated with adoration, and the effect powerful. The Golden Age of Dutch Art is treated with a reverence comparable to what we saw in religious contexts in other countries.
So now the only drawback. The crowds are beyond belief. We tourists are overwhelming the sites we crave to see. The institutions do their best to organize huge numbers but I wonder if a critical point has more than been met. At least these are not natural sites being trampled by many feet, and I realize our dates are coinciding with school holidays and tulip time, but the staff seemed to think the numbers weren't out of the ordinary.
The result is, when I searched out my must-see list, I only had to look for a crowd to find them.

Rembrandt Night Watch

Vermeer: The Milkmaid and Little Street in Delft

Van Gogh self portrait