Product Review

Housed in a splendid 17th-century palace in The Hague, the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis is home to some of the world€s most beloved paintings€•including Vermeer€s Girl with a Pearl Earring€•and has become a destination for art enthusiasts from around the world. This engaging, accessible companion volume to a long-awaited exhibition guides readers through the highlights of the collection as if they were wandering the historic rooms themselves. A lavish plate section features 35 works, each accompanied by texts that explore its historical provenance and individual significance. Curatorial essays describe the building€s founder, Count Johan Maurits, and his experience as a Dutch colonist in the New World; the formation of the collection; and also recent discoveries about the materials and techniques employed by these great artists. Fans of Vermeer€s iconic masterpiece will delight in discovering that it is one of many beautiful artworks in the Mauritshuis€s elegant rooms.