Amsterdam’s marks 750th birthday with Rembrandt, Vermeer in Dutch Old Masters exhibition

Food, drink, reading books and raising children – everyday life in the 1600s is the focus of perhaps the biggest exhibition of the year for fans of the Dutch Old Masters.

For the celebration of Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary this year, a large private collection of Dutch Old Masters is making available 75 of its works, including 18 Rembrandts.

The “From Rembrandt to Vermeer, Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection” is on show until August 24 at the H’ART Museum in the city centre.

The museum describes the exhibition as “a unique and intimate glimpse into the 17th-century Netherlands through the eyes of the great Dutch Masters”, and depicting many women, from wealthy matrons to goddesses to ordinary citizens.

“Particularly noteworthy is the inclusion of a painting by Maria Schalcken, one of the few women in her time known to be working as a painter,” it adds.