The Masterpieces
Vermeer – Rembrandt – Rubens

Vermeer, Rembrandt and Rubens are perhaps the best-known representatives of Dutch painting. Naturally, you can view their works here! But Frans Hals, van Dyck and Steen are also represented.

Let’s start with Vermeer, who is featured three times in this collection — an impressive number, considering that only 37 works are attributed to him in total. These include “View of Delft,” “Diana and her Nymphs,” and of course the star of the collection: Girl with a Pearl Earring.

But Rembrandt is, of course, also a famous representative of his time! Here, he is represented with a “Self-Portrait,” “Susanna, Simeon’s Song of Praise,” “Saul and David,” and “The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp”.

The self-portrait is one of many — no 17th-century artist produced as many self-portraits as Rembrandt. Yet this particular work from 1669 is extremely interesting, as it comes from the year of his death and could well be the last one he painted.

The Anatomy Lesson is also remarkable. Rembrandt was only 25 when he was asked to portray the doctor. Instead of a formal portrait, he painted the doctor “in action” during an anatomy lesson — and quite vividly!

The “poor” Susanna is not immediately identifiable as Susanna, since the two elders are hidden in the picture. But you can see how startled she is. She had just gone to bathe when she discovered the two men in the bushes. She tries to cover her modesty as best she can… but too late. Pay particular attention to her calves: lifelike details even show the marks of her stockings!

In addition, there are two works each by Peter Paul Rubens.

A particularly beautiful example of chiaroscuro is Rubens’ “Old Woman and Boy with Candles”. The candlelight wonderfully illuminates the face of the old, wrinkled woman and the young boy.

Rubens is one of my personal favourite painters. Even though he is often nicknamed the “painter of plump women”, he could do so much more! He was already highly regarded during his lifetime and was commissioned across Europe for portraits. His colourful landscapes, hunting scenes, and historical paintings were also very popular.

Both he and Rembrandt produced an enormous number of works — easily over a thousand. They also ran workshops, so it’s often necessary to distinguish between works they painted themselves and those created by pupils under their guidance. In contrast, Vermeer painted his 37 works entirely alone. 😉

Anthony van Dyck is another major painter of the period. He is represented here with two portraits, including one of Peeter Stevens, who had his wife Anna van Dyck painted a year after this commission.

Frans Hals and Jan Steen may be less well-known in this group, but they also created wonderful works that, in my view, lean more towards genre painting.

All in all, the collection is thematically diverse, yet very much “local”, with a strong focus on Dutch art.