A large private collection of Dutch Old Masters is making available 75 of its works, including 18 Rembrandts, for the celebration of Amsterdam's 750th anniversary this year.
The "From Rembrandt to Vermeer, Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection" is on show from Wednesday to August 24 at the H'ART Museum in the city centre.
The museum describes the exhibition as "a unique and intimate glimpse into the 17th-century Netherlands through the eyes of the great Dutch Masters."
Other artists include Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Ferdinand Bol, Gerard Dou and Frans van Mieris.
The exhibition includes the only Vermeer still in private hands - "A Young woman Seated at the Virginals."
The exhibition sketches many facets of Amsterdam life, highlighting everything from food, drink, reading and music to aging, parenting and the art of portraiture and self-portraiture.
It includes character studies of people from various backgrounds, at the market, in the pub or in their homes.
The focus is formed by 17 paintings and one drawing by Rembrandt, who moved to Amsterdam from Leiden in 1630.
The US-French art collector Thomas Kaplan has been fascinated by Rembrandt since childhood and has assembled "The Leiden Collection"in the artist's honour.
The H'ART website notes that the exhibition depicts many women, from wealthy matrons to goddesses to ordinary citizens.
"Particularly noteworthy is the inclusion of a painting by Maria Schalcken, one of the few women in her time known to be working as a painter," it adds. —dpa
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