Vermeer And Music @ National Gallery

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by Bryony Harrison (subscribe)

Freelance writer and poet from London; if you would like to read my poetry, please check out my book, 'Poems on the Page', available from goo.gl/Ta4oAX.

Event: 26/06/2013 - 08/09/2013

The Art of Love and Leisure

Guitar Player (1672), by Johannes Vermeer

Whenever I go to an art gallery, I feel that same nervousness about sneezing as I do when going into a library. Galleries are usually one of those places for quiet contemplation and silent admiration. For The National Gallery's latest exhibition, however, that is all about to change. Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure opens to the public on the 26th June and runs until the 8th September. It is a unique exhibit that combines art and music together, with a selection of rarely seen paintings set against the backdrop of live performances.

Johannes Vermeer was a seventeenth century Dutch painter, most well known for his 1665 masterpiece, Girl With The Pearl Earring. In this exhibit, however, the focus is on three other paintings, which are being brought together by The National Gallery for the first time. See A Young Woman standing at a Virginal (1670-72) alongside A Young Woman seated at a Virginal (1670-72), and Guitar Player (1672).

For three days a week, these portraits will be brought to life with period music, as well as seventeenth century instruments such as virginals, guitars, and lutes. You will be able to compare the real thing with how the artist interpreted them.

If you are interested in learning even more about Johannes Vermeer, you can book a special study course The Age of Vermeer: Art and Interiors for £150 (£125 concession). Expert tutors will compare Vermeer's interior paintings to that of his contemporaries. You will also closely examine the depiction of music in works by Vermeer, Jan Steen, Hendrick ter Brugghen, and Carel Fabritius, alongside seventeenth century interiors, furniture, silver, and cabinets. Course dates are the 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th July.

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