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| Girl with the Pearl Earring by Vermeer |
Our AirBnB is so beautiful and wonderfully located near the
Mauritshuis and
MC Escher museum, both of which I visited today...after a fresh chocolate croissant from a nearby bakkerij (bakery). Arriving just at opening (10 am), I raced directly to
Johannes Vermeer's "
Girl with a Pearl Earring" and had a few uninterrupted moments to view it before the school groups and tour groups arrived. The girl's face fairly glows. The colors of her turban and dress are softer than I had seen in print. On the opposite wall is another Vermeer, almost completely overlooked. It is a
view of Delft. All of the outdoor Dutch paintings that I've enjoyed show big fluffy clouds hanging in a brilliantly blue sky. After spending some days in Amsterdam and The Hague, I can tell you that the paintings don't lie. The sky has so many moods, even in the space of 30 minutes. However, while we've been visiting, it is often that brilliant blue with puffy white clouds sailing high.
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| The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt |
Due to the 350th year anniversary of the death of Rembrandt van Rijn, Mauritshuis has on show all of their Rembrandts. Most of these are portrait paintings. There is a very informative guide about the pieces. In addition, Mauritshuis has a free app which I downloaded on my phone (using the museum's free WiFi). Most pieces have a number listed on the accompanying placard. If there is audio commentary, there is a headset icon on the placard as well. It was interesting to listen to the anecdotes about the artists and the paintings.
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| The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius |
Some of the other famous Dutch artists on display at the Mauritshuis include
Paulus Potter (
The Bull),
Jan Steen (
As the Old Sing, So Pipe the Young),
Carel Fabritius (
The Goldfinch),
Judith Leyster (
Man Offering Money to a Young Woman), and
Peter Paul Rubens. The current special exhibit on the other side of the building is of the original builder and owner of Mauritshuis.
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| Inside the MC Escher Museum |
Next, my friends met me at the
MC Escher museum. Though small on the outside, it is a very well set-up inside, with many of
Escher's most recognizable prints. The building itself is very interesting because it used to be a residence for Queen Emma starting in 1901. There are still magnificent chandeliers in the shapes of birds, musical instruments, etc.
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| Bonifacio, Corsica (1928) |
The first floor is all about Escher's early work, which was much more realistic. Many of these are from his travels through Italy. There are even some of his linoleum blocks and printing tools on display. Even more incredible (if you have ever done any printmaking) is that Escher did not use a press. Instead, he laid paper on top of each inked block and manually rubbed the paper with an
egg spoon to print!
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| House of Stairs (1951) |
What we know Escher so well for today is his take on tessellations (he visited the Alhambra; and, there are sketches in his notebooks of the mosaic tiles there); and, his beautiful geometric architectures that are physically impossible. The other pieces here that I found very impressive where his Metamorphoses I, II and III, which are long tableaus that go from detailed to tessellation and back again. Truly a delight to view as a whole as well as examine all the details.
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| Portion on Metamorphoses III |
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| Part of Metamorphoses II (1939-1940) |
By this time, we were hungry and made our way to
Foodies Lab for lunch, where I enjoyed a delicious burger with wild mushroom sauce. Then, we headed over to the
Willig Cheese Shop to finally make our cheese purchases. We've probably already eaten 100 grams in free cheese samples by now!
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| William of Orange |
The sun had come out as we walked back through the Binnehof. Nearby was a little fair set up in the square for "
History of the Hague Day". It consisted of various small booths, mostly by local museums. There were lots of activities for kids, including stilts to walk on, mini canvases to paint and free potterjes (mini pancakes). We joined the other participants in hiking up temporary stairs set-up to climb up eye-to-eye with a statue of
William of Orange.
If you go....
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Mauritshuis is small. However, if you
purchase your ticket online, you can skip the line waiting to purchase their tickets at the museum.
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MC Escher Museum has lockers in the basement for your things (1 Euro that is returned when you return your key) and coat hangers where everyone hangs their coats on a trust system that the coats will still be there when they return. What a great life in the Hague!
More photos here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/F9Ebu4yCjUANCjvA9
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