Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery
—he Hague's top art
gallery features an easy-to-appreciate collection of Dutch Golden
Age art, including top-notch
pieces by Vermeer (his famous
Girl
with a Pearl Earring
), Rembrandt,
Rubens, and many others. The
beautifully restored 17th-century
palace is an ideal setting for this
exquisite art. While calling it a
“mini-R ijksmuseum” might be
a stretch, and the ticket price is
steep, the Mauritshuis is well worth a visit.
Cost, Hours, Location:
€9.50, covered by Museumkaart—
see page 35, extra charge for special exhibitions, includes great
English audioguide; April-Aug Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun
11:00-17:00; Sept-March Tue-Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun 11:00-17:00,
closed Mon; café, no photography, mandatory bag check, next
door to the Binnenhof parliament complex at Korte Vijverberg
8, tel. 070/302-3456, www.mauritshuis.nl. From the TI, it's on
the far side of the parliament; cut straight through the Binnenhof
courtyard (described on previous page) and look left when you
pop out on the other side.
>
Self-Guided Tour:
The included audioguide is excellent,
but this tour covers the basics. The collection, exhibited on two
floors, is constantly moved around—pick up a floor plan as you
enter to find the current location of these pieces.
Vermeer,
Girl with a Pearl Earring
(c. 1665):
Sometimes
called “the Dutch
Mona Lisa
” for its enigmatic qualities, this can-
vas became a sensation in recent years as the subject of a popu-
lar book and film. This is a “tronie” (TROH-nee)—the painter's
goal is not to depict a particular person, but to capture a mood or
character. In fact, we don't even know who this mysterious girl is.
Wearing a blue turban and with a gigantic pearl dangling from
her earlobe, she glances over her shoulder and catches the viewer's
gaze...expectantly, maybe even seductively. Vermeer's straight-
forward scene subtly implies a much more complicated story
than we'll ever know. The artist was also a master of color and at
suggesting shape with light—looking closely, you'll see that the
famous pearl is essentially formed by two simple brushstrokes. For
more on Vermeer, see page 125.
Vermeer,
View of Delft
(c. 1660-1661):
If this were a pho-
tograph, it'd be a bad one...you'd want to wait for the clouds to
pass to snap another one with the entire scene bathed in light.
But Vermeer, an expert at capturing light effects on canvas, uses
the cloudy/sunny contrast to his advantage, illuminating the fore-
ground and the distant, inner part of town instead of the more
