Masters from Madrid
Love between two museums
How do two international museums express their love of each other’s collections? By exchanging each other’s paintings. In autumn 2026, twenty-five phenomenal paintings from the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection will make their way from Madrid to The Hague. Visit the Mauritshuis to experience iconic art by world-famous artists such as Jan van Eyck, Albrecht Dürer, and Lucas van Leyden to El Greco, Antonello da Messina, Bronzino, and Michael Sweerts. This is a rare opportunity to see the work of these acclaimed masters, which is hardly ever shown in Dutch museums. We are also loaning twenty-five of our iconic works to the Spanish museum.
In Thyssen-Bornemisza ❤️ Mauritshuis – Masters from Madrid, people are centre stage – in Biblical and mythological scenes, and in a selection of large-scale portraits. Our exhibition space gives pride of place to Italian, Spanish, German and Flemish paintings from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Afterwards, drop in to see our own collection, chock-full of famous paintings by Dutch masters. A visit to the Mauritshuis between October 2026 and January 2027 will give you a unique perspective on painting.
Paintings displayed together
This exhibition creates unique art duos, shown together in a one-time-only presentation. For instance, Sebastiano del Piombo’s Portrait of Ferry Carondolet with his Secretaries appears in Willem van Haecht’s painting: Apelles Painting Campaspe. The paintings are presented, side by side, for the first time.
Paintings travelling to Madrid
The Mauritshuis is also lending twenty-five paintings to the museum in Madrid. Masterpieces such as Vermeer’s View of Delft, Frans Hals’ Laughing Boy and Rembrandt’s Simeon’s Song of Praise will be travelling between October 2026 and January 2027. And will be featured in the exhibition there. The Thyssen-Bornemisza family founded one of the world’s largest private art collections, with art from the 13th to the 20th century. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza opened in 1993 in the Palacio de Villahermosa in Madrid, prior to which it was based in Lugano, Switzerland.
