But items really began pouring in two years ago, when the museum posted a plea to potential contributors on its Web site.
On Thursday, the museum posted a simple notice on its heavy double doors, blaming "technical reasons" for forcing it to close temporarily.
Evidence of this tendency was visible this week, when foreign minister Guido Westerwelle intervened to stop a figure unpopular with Poles being appointment to a museum post.
The logic goes something like this: The more shows you do, the more you get your name about town, build up your curriculum vitae and have a shot at a coveted museum post.
But the museum posted on its Web site (www.mfa.org) only seven works that are "of most concern" because of their association with people implicated in World War II-era looting or because of dubious transactions in their history.
"I saw a museum posted an ad asking for a degree in art history to work in the shop.
In March, the museum posted a new scholars page, listing five members of a scholars advisory committee that will "meet routinely with NWHM" and eight others on a national scholars council who have agreed "to be available as needed".
AMSTERDAM — Many museums post their collections online, but the Rijksmuseum here has taken the unusual step of offering downloads of high-resolution images at no cost, encouraging the public to copy and transform its artworks into stationery, T-shirts, tattoos, plates or even toilet paper.
Local stores doubled as museums, post offices, workshops, butchers, bakeries, and bars.
