A woman takes images of 'Girl Reading A Letter At An Open Window', on loan from the Gemaelde Galerie Dresden, during a preview of the Vermeer exhibit at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum on Feb 6. The blockbuster exhibition of paintings by Dutch master Johannes Vermeer closed its doors on June 4, with the art and history national museum of the Netherlands hailing the show as its most successful ever. Photo: AP
Around 650,000 people have seen the largest exhibition to date of works by the painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-75) in Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum said on Sunday after the exhibition ended after 115 days.
This made it the best-attended exhibition in the museum's history.
Since February, 28 of the 37 remaining paintings by the Dutch master from Delft had been on display, including many loans from international collections.
From Germany, the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, which specialises in old masters, and the Städel Museum in Frankfurt also provided works.
Never before had so many Vermeer paintings been exhibited at the same time.
The Vermeer exhibition opened on Feb 10. Because of the great interest, the museum had extended the opening hours until 11pm.
In connection with the exhibition, the Vermeer paintings had been extensively examined. The examination of four paintings will be continued, the Rijksmuseum announced. - dpa
