Johannes Vermeer s Girl With A Pearl Earring is one of the most admired paintings in the world, the jewel in the crown of the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague. But 80 years ago, it wasn t even the most admired Vermeer in Holland.
That distinction belonged to the recently discovered Christ At Emmaus. The public swooned before the 17th-century masterpiece, as did even eminent critics. For them, it proved Vermeer, as had long been rumoured, was directly influenced by Italy s great Caravaggio.
Christ At Emmaus was the most famous and talked-about Vermeer in the world, and following its thrilling discovery in 1937, a frantic fund-raising campaign began to keep it in the Netherlands.