Several museums in Istanbul are holding major exhibitions of famous Dutch paintings to mark 400 years of diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Netherlands. Ties between the two countries go back to 1612, when Cornelis Haga presented his credentials to Sultan Ahmet I as the first ambassador the Dutch Republic sent to the Ottoman Empire.

The dark galleries of Istanbul’s Sabanci Museum are now being lit up by Golden Age masters, including Rembrandt, Vermeer, Jan Lievens and Jan Steen. The works are on loan from Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, which has been closed for several years due to a much delayed renovation.

Over 100 paintings, carefully packed in climate controlled cases, have been flown to Istanbul, where the Rijksmuseum’s director of collections, Taco Dibbits, opens them with visible excitement. “Your heart beats faster once the works arrive—and when you see people here react to the collection.”

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RNW