Fries Museum, Leeuwarden

The Fries Museum in Leeuwarden tells the story of Friesland, the Dutch province with its own language and distinct identity. Founded in 1881, the museum moved to a striking modern building on Wilhelminaplein in 2013. The collection covers Frisian history, archaeology, and art, but it has a special claim to fame: Leeuwarden is the birthplace of Lawrence Alma-Tadema, the Victorian painter known for lavish depictions of ancient Rome and Greece.

The museum's Alma-Tadema holdings include his Self-Portrait, Entrance to a Roman Theatre, and early Italian studies. Born here in 1836, Alma-Tadema left for London and became one of the highest-paid painters of the Academic Art period. The museum also covers the Mata Hari story (she was also from Leeuwarden) and rotating exhibitions of contemporary Frisian art.