Thyssen-Bornemisza & Mauritshuis: una historia de amor entre dos museos

The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Mauritshuis in The Hague have carried out a simultaneous exchange of twenty-five iconic works from their respective permanent collections. An exhibition featuring an exceptional group of masterpieces of 17th-century Dutch painting is on display in Madrid from 9 October 2026 to 10 January 2027.

Thanks to a collaboration agreement between both institutions, the Madrid museum is showing the public a selection of pieces highlighted by View of Delft (c. 1660-1661) by Johannes Vermeer. The works are presented in a new exhibition space at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, the so-called classical rooms, located next to the galleries dedicated to this school, which offers a broader and more complete view of an extraordinarily rich century.

The works span a broad chronological period, from approximately 1618 to 1705, and correspond to prominent artists such as Ambrosius Bosschaert I, Frans Hals, Hendrick Avercamp, Pieter Claesz, Rembrandt van Rijn, Gerard ter Borch, Jan Steen, Jacob Ruisdael, Pieter de Hooch and Nicolaes Maes, among others. The exhibition tour is structured thematically: the first room focuses on still lifes and genre painting; the second on landscapes and scenes with figures; and the third houses, as a unique piece, one of the great masterpieces of universal landscape, Vermeer's View of Delft.

Noteworthy is the presence of three paintings exhibited alongside three others from the Mauritshuis. The Garden of Eden by Jan Brueghel the Elder is presented alongside The Garden of Paradise by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Rubens; The Merry Fiddler with a Wine Glass is paired with The Viola Player, both by Gerard van Honthorst; and The Western Façade of the Church of Saint Mary in Utrecht by Pieter Jansz. Saenredam complements the exterior view of the church represented in the panel by the same artist belonging to the Mauritshuis.