In the spring of 2023, the Rijksmuseum will dedicate a retrospective exhibition to Johannes Vermeer for the first time in its history. With loans from all over the world, the exhibition is advertised as the largest Vermeer exhibition ever.

The Rijksmuseum itself has four masterpieces by Vermeer, including the world-famous Milkmaid and The Little Street. These will be supplemented by major loans such as The Girl with a Pearl Earring (Mauritshuis, The Hague), The Geographer (Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main), Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid (The National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin) and Woman Holding a Balance (The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC).  Works never before shown to the public in the Netherlands will include the newly restored Girl Reading a Letter at the Open Window from the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.

For this exhibition, the Rijksmuseum is working closely with the Mauritshuis in The Hague with a team of curators, restorers and natural scientists to examine in depth the seven paintings by Vermeer in Dutch possession. Works by Vermeer from other collections are also involved in this project.

The Vermeer exhibition will be on view from 10 February to 4 June 2023 in the Rijksmuseum. Parallel to the exhibition in Amsterdam, Museum Prinsenhof Delft will organize the exhibition Vermeer’s Delft (10 February to 4 June 2023). This will be the first ever exhibition to explore in depth the cultural-historical context in which Vermeer’s practice flourished. Works by Delft contemporaries are displayed alongside Delft pottery, Delft carpets, archival materials and letters.