AMSTERDAM.- For the first time, the Rijksmuseum is organising an exhibition on the Dutch Golden Age in Turkey, including five paintings by Rembrandt and 'The love letter' by Vermeer. Over 100 masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum collection will be on display in Sakip Sabanci Museum in Istanbul from 21 February to 10 June 2012. The exhibition is part of the festivities marking 400 years of diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Netherlands.

The exhibition showcases the rich and varied nature of 17th-century Dutch art and history, telling the story of the power and majesty of the young Dutch Republic in the Golden Age through a selection of 111 paintings, drawings, prints and applied art in the form of carpets, ceramics, silverware and glassware. The exhibits include landscapes by Jan van Goyen, Jacob van Ruisdael and Aelbert Cuyp, still lives by Pieter Claesz and Adriaen Coorte, genre pieces by Gerard ter Borch, Gabriël Metsu and Pieter de Hooch, and jocular scenes by Jan Steen and Adriaen van Ostade. Two portraits by Frans Hals will also be on display, alongside several cityscapes by Gerrit Berckheyde and two pen paintings by Willem van de Velde de Oude. The highlights of the exhibition are The Love Letter (1669-1670) by Johannes Vermeer and no fewer than five paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn : Portrait of Haesje van Cleyburgh (1634), Still life with peacocks (c. 1639) and Portrait of Dr Ephraïm Bueno (1645-47), The music lesson (1626) and Joseph recounting his dreams (1633).

During the renovations, the Rijksmuseum will be taking the opportunity to share its collection with as wide an audience as possible, both in the Netherlands and abroad. Countries where works from the Rijksmuseum’s collection have been on display include Australia (2005), Japan (2005, 2007), the United States (2006), China (2007), Canada (2009), France (2009), Luxembourg (2010) and Qatar (2011). The exhibition in Istanbul will be the final exhibition abroad before the Rijksmuseum’s main building reopens in all its glory in 2013.

Part of Sabanci University, the Sakip Sabanci Museum opened its doors in 2002 and is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.