After a popular two year tour throughout countries all over the world, Johannes Vermeer’s famous painting and numerous other works have finally returned home to the Mauritshuis museum in the Netherlands.
While the paintings have been gone, the museum has been renovated and prepared for their arrival, with special glass installed on the windows so that paintings are not hurt by the light from outside and an expansion into a nearby building where special exhibitions can be kept. The Mauritshuis is a museum that solely houses works by Dutch or Flemish Old Masters or things that relate to the original owner of the building Johan Maurits as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ is one of the highlights of the museum, but the collection contains many other artistic gems, from masters such as Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens.
The museum’s United States director explained the appeal of the collection in an interview, saying, as reported by WSLS 10, “‘The Girl with the Pearl Earring,' which is increasingly called the 'Mona Lisa of the North,' is the icon, there's no denying it. She's a great ambassador for us. But what we notice is that people come for 'The Girl,' but they stay for the rest."
The Mauritshuis museum reopens on June 27.