News: The Young Vermeer

The Mauritshuis Picture Gallery in The Hague, The Netherlands, hosts one of the most famous collections of Dutch and Flemish art in the world. Opened in 1822, the gallery is housed in the former manor of count John Maurice of Nassau and was built between 1636 and 1641.
 
Through August 22nd, the gallery will be home to a groundbreaking exhibition that for the first time in The Netherlands, brings together three of the earliest paintings by Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), Diana and her Nymphs, The Procures and Christ in the House of Martha and Mary.
 
From the museum:

These early painting are atypical for Vermeer. They do not represent richly decorated interiors filled with alluring women; instead he painted three remarkably large works depicting a mythological scene, a story from the Bible and a rather daring scene from everyday life. Nonetheless, every one of them reveals Vermeer’s hand and his interest in capturing stillness and the fall of light.

The display, which has been organised in close collaboration with The National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh and the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, has been made possible thanks to the generous support of The Hague Municipal Council and the Nieske Fonds, administered by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds. The Young Vermeer is part of the main programme for Holland Art Cities 2010. The exhibition Han van Meegeren at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam will focus on the work of this master Vermeer forger during the same period.