The World Culture: Exhibition «The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer. Masterpieces from the Leiden Collection» to open at the Hermitage Museum

A new exhibition «The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer. Masterpieces from the Leiden Collection» is opening at the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg) on September 5, 2018.

The exhibition will display the Dutch masterpieces from the Leiden collection, one of the world’s  best-known private collections  of 17th century Dutch painting, owned by Thomas Kaplan.

The exhibition showcases 83 works by prominent painters of the Dutch Golden Age, works of Rembrandt (including works from his early Leiden period and his later works), Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer, and works of Rembrandt’s pupils (Ferdinand Bol and Govert Flinck). A special section of the exhibition consists of examples of Leiden fine painting. These small works were painted in pure colours on wood or copper using a special virtuoso technique and have always been of great interest to collectors (Gerard Dou, Frans van Mieris the Elder, Gabriel Metsu, Godfried Schalcken). The works on display show the wide range of genres in 17th century Dutch painting. Besides historical compositions, portraits and genre scenes, they also include charming animalistic compositions. The exceptionally high standard of preservation of these masterpieces makes it possible to admire the technical perfection and virtuoso technique of the Dutch masters.