"The Epoch of Rembrandt and Vermeer" - an exhibition of masterpieces of the Leiden collection was opened in the Pushkin Museum

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts presents a large-scale exhibition "The Epoch of Rembrandt and Vermeer." Masterpieces of the Leiden Collection on Wednesday for a wide audience. There will be 82 works in the exposition, none of which have previously been exhibited in Russia.

The exhibition is based on the collection of Thomas Kaplan and his wife Daphne Recanati-Kaplan, this is one of the largest private collections of Dutch painting of the 17th century. Visitors will see the works of Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn, Jan Vermeer Delft and Karel Fabricius, Frans Hals, Gerrit Dau, Jan Livens. Also, Leonardo da Vinci's unique "The Bear's Head" will be presented. "The work of the great Italian does not belong to the art of the Dutch Golden Age, but his small work is the pearl of the Leiden collection," the press service of the museum said.

"This is an amazing collection, one of the best in the world, we learned about the fact that it was first published and opened in the Louvre, and this was a signal that it is necessary to get acquainted with the collector and try to show it in Moscow ... The collector is so incredible man, that he instantly made a decision, we are unanimous in that it is important, "- said the museum director Marina Loshak at a press show of the exhibition.

She stressed that the organization of the exhibition went smoothly. "There was not any difficulty [in this case], everything was very easy, the professional team on both sides worked wonderfully, so the exhibition was realized in a short time," said Loshak.

Masterpieces of the exposition

Visitors to the exhibition will get acquainted with the works of the early Leiden period of Rembrandt's creativity from a series of allegories of feelings: "Extraction of the Stone of Foolishness (Allegory of Touch)", "Three Musicians (Allegory of Hearing)" and a recent find - "The Patient Fainted (Allegory of Smell)." The mature period of Rembrandt's work, connected with the long and fruitful work in Amsterdam, is represented by "Portrait of a man in red doublet", "A girl in a gold embroidered cloak", "Self-portrait with shaded eyes".

The exhibition will also show the picture "Girl behind Verginel" by Jan Vermeer of Delft, whose work is extremely rare. This work is the only work of the mature period of the master's work, which is still in a private collection. In the world, only 36 works are known.

The exhibition will work for visitors until July 22