Featuring an exceptional selection of Dutch genre paintings from the British Royal Collection, the new exhibition at the Mauritshuis in The Hague — titled At Home in Holland: Vermeer and his Contemporaries from the British Royal Collection — is a compelling reason to visit. The show brings together works from the Dutch Golden Age, including one of Johannes Vermeer’s rare surviving paintings, The Music Lesson (c. 1660–1662), acquired in 1762 by King George III of England. The Royal Collection is notable for remaining largely intact as one of Europe’s few surviving complete royal art collections. Alongside Vermeer, the exhibition features important genre painters such as Gerard ter Borch, Gerrit Dou, Pieter de Hooch, Willem van Mieris and Gabriël Metsu. The display runs until Jan. 8, 2017.
Elsewhere in the Netherlands, Leeuwarden’s Fries Museum presents Alma-Tadema: Classical Charm, a major survey of more than 80 works by the 19th-century painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Renowned for his meticulous research into archaeology and classical antiquity, Alma-Tadema recreated scenes that evoke the atmosphere of ancient Roman life. His richly detailed, historically informed compositions influenced not only painters but also filmmakers; directors have referenced his work for cinematic depictions of antiquity, with Ridley Scott drawing on similar visual sources for films such as Gladiator (2000) and Exodus (2014). The Alma-Tadema exhibition is part of the Leeuwarden–Fryslân program for the 2018 European Capital of Culture and is on view until Feb. 7, 2017.