Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure

Featuring the Academy of Ancient Music as Resident Ensemble

Explore the musical pastimes of the 17th-century Netherlands through this exhibition combining the art of Vermeer and his contemporaries with rare musical instruments, songbooks and live music.

For the first time the National Gallery’s two paintings by Vermeer, A Young Woman standing at a Virginal and A Young Woman seated at a Virginal are brought together with Vermeer’s Guitar Player, which is currently on exceptional loan from the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood House.

Three days a week visitors can experience live performances in the exhibition space by the Academy of Ancient Music, bringing the paintings to life with music of the period.

Music was one of the most popular themes in Dutch painting, and carried many diverse associations. In portraits, a musical instrument or songbook might suggest the education or social position of the sitter; in scenes of everyday life, it might act as a metaphor for harmony, or a symbol of transience. 

The exhibition displays 17th-century virginals (a type of harpsichord), guitars and lutes alongside the paintings to offer unique insights into the painters’ choice of instruments, and the difference between the real instruments and the way in which the painters chose to represent them. 

The show also incorporates music of the era with the Academy of Ancient Music performing every Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the exhibition space (on the hour every hour; performances last 20 minutes). These live performances are designed to enrich your experience of the serene ambiance created in paintings by Vermeer and other masters of the Dutch Golden Age.

Exhibition audio guide

Get deeper insights into Vermeer and the Dutch Golden Age with art and music experts, and listen to exclusively recorded music and demonstrations from the Academy of Ancient Music.

Find out more

Supported by The Hata Stichting Foundation, The Blavatnik Family Foundation, Susan and John Singer and The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Image above: Detail from Johannes Vermeer, The Guitar Player, about 1672. On loan from English Heritage, The Iveagh Bequest (Kenwood), © English Heritage Photo Library