National Treasures: Vermeer in Edinburgh

As part of its 200th anniversary, the National Gallery in London earlier this year launched ‘National Treasures’, a wide-ranging programme of loans around the UK, including a Rembrandt being sent down to Brighton, a Canaletto packed off to Aberystwyth and a Turner heading to Newcastle. Now a painting by Vermeer, A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal (c. 1670–72), is making the trip from the capital to Edinburgh, to be displayed alongside his earlier Christ in the House of Martha and Mary (1654–55), which is in the National Galleries of Scotland’s collection. The later painting is an exquisite depiction of a woman playing the virginal, with an immaculate floor laid with blue and white Delftware tiles. It is a more rounded, mature work than his painting of Christ, but hanging them together allows viewers to gain insight into the development of the artist’s style and technique (until 8 September).

Find out more from the National Galleries of Scotland’s website.

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A Young Woman standing at a Virginal (c. 1670–72), Johannes Vermeer. National Gallery, London

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary (c. 1654–56), Johannes Vermeer. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh