CAMBRIDGE.- The exhibition Vermeer’s Women: Secrets and Silence, which finished its three-month run on 15 January 2012, is the most successful show ever held at the Fitzwilliam Museum, attracting over 150,000 visitors.

The Museum recorded over 200,000 visitors during the exhibition period and opening hours were extended to accommodate the high demand, which peaked at 6,000 on the last Saturday. It is the first show at the Fitzwilliam to achieve over 100,000 visitors.

The Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum , Dr Timothy Potts, commented: “Vermeer’s Women has been an unprecedented success for the Fitzwilliam Museum and for Cambridge . The attendance of over 150,000 visitors broke all previous records by a long shot. Even more importantly, the exhibition attracted universal acclaim from art critics, scholars and the community in general. It has set a new standard for what a major exhibition outside London can achieve.

Having Vermeer’s Lacemaker, one of the world’s most famous paintings, on display in our Museum was an extraordinary experience that visitors will remember for years to come. And by mixing Vermeer with his finest contemporaries, the individuality and quality of these less familiar names was given new clarity as well as providing a few surprises, such as the enigmatically minimalist interiors of Jacobus Vrel.”

Over the last 20 years Vermeer has been cast as the great master of the Dutch Golden Age, but what makes this period so exciting is the wealth and breadth of work produced by many celebrated artists. Visitors, enticed by the four Vermeers, were delighted to discover the work of other master painters such as Gerard Ter Borch, Pieter de Hooch, Nicholas Maes and Jacobus Vrel. The exhibition has helped raise the profile of the incredibly rich world of Dutch painting in the 17th century.

The exhibition, which was guest curated by Dr Marjorie E. Wieseman, Curator of Dutch Paintings at the National Gallery, attracted exceptional national and international media coverage from London to New York and as far as afield as Japan. “This is an astutely curated show...” The Daily Telegraph; “That is the pleasure of this enchanting, and free, show. It encourages you to get up close and personal to the paintings.” The Independent; “The deeply rewarding show is intelligently focused, elegantly hung, and free.” Financial Times; are just some of the accolades that this landmark exhibition received.

The next major exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum will be The Search for Immortality: Tomb Treasures of Han China in Spring 2012, which will be the most important display of ancient Chinese royal treasures ever seen outside China . Comprising over 300 exquisitely crafted treasures from the tombs of the Han imperial family and the kings of the southern state of Nanyue, it will offer unique insights into a defining period in China ’s history. The kingdom of Nanyue was ancient China ’s gateway to the rich trade routes of the South China Sea and Indian Ocean .