Vermeer painting visiting the Getty Feb. 16

For six weeks, museum-goers in Los Angeles will have a rare opportunity to experience one of Johannes Vermeer’s most celebrated masterpieces, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, painted about 1663–1664, when it goes on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum from February 16 through March 31, 2013.

The painting comes to the Getty on special loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which is completing ten years of extensive renovations this year. Since October 2012, Vermeer’s masterpiece has traveled the world as an “ambassador” for the Rijksmuseum’s remarkable collection of Dutch paintings. Following presentations in Shanghai and São Paulo, Los Angeles is the last and only North American stop on the painting’s tour, after which it will return to Amsterdam in time for the Rijksmuseum’s much-anticipated opening on April 13, 2013.

For more information, the public may visit www.getty.edu/vermeer