29 September 2016 – 5 February 2017
The British royal family owns one of the finest collections of Old Master paintings in the world. The collection was brought together over many centuries by successive monarchs. The paintings normally hang behind closed doors in Buckingham Palace and other royal residences. The Mauritshuis has the great privilege of showing twenty-two of them for the duration of this exhibition.
Johannes Vermeer
The highlight of the exhibition is the Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman ('The Music Lesson') by Johannes Vermeer. 'The Music Lesson' is one of 36 surviving and very rare pieces by Johannes Vermeer. This painting dates from 1660-1662 and shows a lady and a gentleman beside a virginal. Above the instrument hangs a mirror, in which we see the reflection of the foot of Vermeer's easel. Music is undoubtedly a symbol of love in this painting, and this is confirmed by the Latin maxim on the virginal. The painting was acquired by King George III of England in 1762, but was attributed to Frans van Mieris the Elder at the time. Only later was it recognised as a piece by Vermeer.
Jan Steen
Another of the exhibition's highlights is A Woman at her Toilet by Jan Steen, which dates from 1663. In it we see a young woman who, judging by the indents above her calves, is not pulling her stocking on, but off, as her eyes meet those of the viewer. Here too, the context is seen as amorous. These representations were extremely popular in their day. Steen makes the point that the physical pleasures are transient by showing a skull in the door opening, under a lute with a broken string
