Exhibitions

Thyssen-Bornemisza ❤️ Mauritshuis​

15 October 2026 – 17 January 2027

Het Meisje met de Parel van Johannes Vermeer en De jongen met tulband van Michiel Sweerts gecombineerd in een afbeelding

In the autumn of 2026, the Mauritshuis and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza will partner to host a unique exchange exhibition, taking place concurrently in The Hague and Madrid. Twenty-five masterpieces from the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza will travel to the Mauritshuis, while twenty-five of our own highlights will be exhibited in Madrid.

The selection arriving from Spain features masterpieces by internationally renowned artists whose works are either rare or entirely absent from Dutch museum collections. This includes exceptional paintings by Jan van Eyck, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas van Leyden, El Greco, Antonello da Messina, Bronzino, and many others.

It will be a Spanish love affair to never forget: Thyssen-Bornemisza ❤️ Mauritshuis – Masterpieces from Madrid.

A love affair between two museums

The Mauritshuis and Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza have been flirting for a little while now, but this exhibition elevates our partnership to a brand new level.

We went searching for thematic synergy between our collections, and  carefully selected several exquisite works to display in the Netherlands.

Love is intangible, yet it is a universally recognized emotion. The figures in these paintings experience it in all its facets: romantic love, divine love, charity, maternal love, forbidden love, lust, and jealousy. Although these works originate from the 15th and 16th centuries, these emotions transcend time, whether depicted in religious scenes, mythological tableaux, or representations of everyday life.

While the complete list of highlights remains secret for now, we are pleased to offer a little preview on this page.

Highlights

Op dit schilderij van El Greco wordt Maria bezocht door een engel. Hoog in de wolken speelt een orkest van engelen muziek.
El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos), The Annunciation, c. 1596-1600 Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Een jonge man stelt Sint Sebastiaan voor. Zijn bovenlichaam is ontkleed en hij heeft een rode mantol om zijn lijf gewikkeld. In zijn hand houdt hij een pijl vast. In zijn zij doorboort een pijl zijn lichaam.
Bronzino (Agnolo di Cosimo di Mariano), Portrait of a young Man as Saint Sebastian, c. 1533, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Palma Vecchio (Jacopo Negretti), Portrait of a Young Woman Known as "La Bella", c. 1518–20
Een diptiek van Jan van Eyck. Het linkerpaneel stelt een marmeren beeld van een engel voor. Op het rechterpaneel staat een marmeren beeld van maria, een marmeren duif vliegt haar tegemoet.
Jan van Eyck, The Annunciation Dyptich, c. 1433-1435 Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza
Piero della Francesca, Portrait of a Boy (Guidobaldo da Montefeltro?), c. 1483

Reunited...

..and it feels so good!

One of the twenty-five paintings from Madrid will be integrated into the museum’s permanent collection during the exhibition: Sebastiano del Piombo’s Portrait of Ferry Carondelet and his Secretaries.

In our painting Apelles Painting Campaspe by Willem van Haecht, this exact portrait from the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection can be seen depicted in minute detail as one of the many paintings within a majestic art collection. These two works have never before been displayed side-by-side.

Love also plays an important role in this painting by Van Haecht, namely: a love of art. Whilst Apelles is painting a portrait of Campaspe, Alexander the Great’s mistress, he falls in love with her. Alexander then finds the painting so beautiful that he exchanges his mistress for her portrait.

Willem van Haecht, Apelles schildert Campaspe, c. 1630
Een kamer vol schilderijen en standbeelden. Pal in het midden zien we het portret geschilderd door Del Piombo.
Willem van Haecht, Apelles Painting Campaspe, c. 1630 (detail) Mauritshuis
Op dit schilderij van Del Piombo staat Ferry Carondelet afgebeeld. Hij draagt een luxueuze mantel met grote bonten mouwen. Hij houdt papieren vast. Naast hem schrijft een andere man een document.
Sebastiano del Piombo (Sebastiano Luciani), Portrait of Ferry Carondelet with his Secretaries, c. 1510 – 1512 Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Another striking pair features Michael Sweerts’s Boy in a Turban from Madrid and Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring.

With their shared color palette and thematic resonance, they truly form a dynamic duo. While these masterpieces won't be displayed right next to each other, they will engage in a fascinating dialogue in their own unique way.

Twee wereldberoemde schilderen op één afbeelding: Jongen met een Tulband van Michiel Sweerts en Meisje met de parel van Johannes Vermeer.

About the exchange

The works from Madrid will soon be on display in our exhibition hall. In the lead-up to the exhibition, the twenty-five works from the Mauritshuis will temporarily be removed from view. This includes Johannes Vermeer’s View of Delft and Frans Hals’s Laughing Boy.
However, this also presents a unique opportunity: Utilizing the newly available space, our curators will bring several lesser-known works from the storage depot into the spotlight.
Johannes Vermeer, View of Delft, c. 1660-1661

Publication

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication in Dutch, Spanish and English, in which ten Spanish and ten Dutch authors write about the travelling masterpieces through the lens of love.

Made possible by:

The exhibition Thyssen-Bornemisza ❤️ Mauritshuis - Masterpieces from Madrid is made possible with the support of Nationale-Nederlanden, the VriendenLoterij, the Friends of the Mauritshuis Foundation, the Johan Maurits Compagnie Foundation, the Blockbuster Fund and the Turing Foundation.