The Definitive Dutch Masters.

PositionMUSUEMS TODAY - "In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met" exhibition

DUTCH PAINTINGS of the 17th century--the Golden Age of Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, and lohannes Vermeer--have been a highlight of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection since the museum's founding purchase in 1871. The exhibition "In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met" brings together some of the museum's greatest paintings to present this remarkable chapter of art history in a new light. Through 67 works drawn exclusively from The Met's permanent collection and organized thematically, the exhibit orients visitors to key issues in 17th-century Dutch culture--from debates about religion and conspicuous consumption to painters' fascination with the domestic lives of women.

"[Our] rich holdings of 17th century Dutch masterpieces--the most extensive collection outside of Europe--have always been immensely popular with our visitors," says Max Hollein, director of The Met. "This exhibition is a chance to gain a deeper understanding of how the shifting cultural climate of the time spurred artistic innovation and gave rise to some of the most-beloved works of Western art in all of history."

The title of the exhibition comes from one of the period's major works of art theory, Philips Angel's The Praise of Painting (1642), a pioneering tribute to painting's ability to imitate nature and achieve realistic effects.

The exhibition opens with one of The Met's most-prized works, "Aristotle with a Bust of Homer" (1653), by Rembrandt, the painter who has dominated public perception of the Dutch Golden Age. In this meditation on the transience of fame, Rembrandt contrasts worldly renown with enduring artistic achievement at a time when his own somber and expressive style was beginning to fall out of fashion.

The exhibit then unfolds in nine thematically organized galleries. The first, Faces of a New Nation, examines how portraiture was used to express identity and status at a moment when Dutch society was experiencing unprecedented social mobility and diversity. Among the portraits will be four paintings by Rembrandt--including his 1640 depiction of Herman Doomer, a successful cabinetmaker--and Hals' swaggering 1643 portrait of Paulus Verschuur, a wealthy merchant from Rotterdam.

The next two galleries familiarize visitors with the Dutch Republic's religious and geographical landscapes. Questions of Faith juxtaposes views of the reformed interiors of Protestant churches (Emanuel de Witte's "Interior of the Oude Kerk, Delft," c. 1650)...

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