The artist, author of world-famous paintings including "The Milkmaid" and "The Young Girl with a Pearl Earring", did not paint many paintings, around 35, and little is known about his short life (1632-1675 ).

The museum has managed to collect more than three quarters of his work, making the exhibition the largest retrospective ever dedicated to the painter of the Dutch Golden Age.

"Never in history have 28 paintings by Vermeer been brought together," Taco Dibbits, general manager of the Rijksmuseum, told AFP during a preview visit.

"He hasn't even seen that many together himself," he adds.

Famous for their luminosity, the 28 canvases will shine on the dark walls of the Rijksmuseum galleries for the duration of the exhibition, from February 10 to June 4, on loan from museums and collections around the world.

A visitor in front of the painting "Love Letter" by painter Johannes Vermeer exhibited at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, February 6, 2023 © JOHN THYS / AFP

"It's a very happy reunion," notes Mr. Dibbits, whose museum has already sold 200,000 tickets, unheard of for a single exhibition.

"Marvellous"

Part of the fascination for Vermeer stems from the mystery surrounding the painter, nicknamed the "Sphinx of Delft".

The artist was born into a family of Calvinist merchants before converting to Catholicism after his union with a wealthy woman with whom he had eleven children.

Taco Dibbits, general director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, in front of the painting "The Girl with a Pearl Earring" by painter Johannes Vermeer, on February 6, 2023 in the Netherlands © JOHN THYS / AFP

But ultimately relatively little is known about his life, and his work languished in obscurity for a long time compared to other Dutch Golden Age masters like Rembrandt, before truly coming to light in the 19th century.

Vermeer's rise to megastar status coincided with the publication in 1999 of the historical novel "The Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier, inspired by the painting loaned for the exhibition by the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague.

The book also spawned a Hollywood film in 2003 starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth.

"Wonderful, it's wonderful," Ms. Chevalier told AFP after seeing the exhibit.

"I'm so glad people see these paintings put together and get a sense of what Vermeer was like," she says.

Most of his works represent women whom he "presented in their best light, literally and figuratively", observes the writer.

A painting by the painter Johannes Vermeer exhibited at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, February 6, 2023 in the Netherlands © JOHN THYS / AFP

He paints women in domestic contexts, reading, writing a love letter or playing a musical instrument.

The artist shows "what it is to be a woman", adds Ms. Chevalier, particularly seduced by "The Lacemaker", a work of great delicacy on loan from the Louvre.

"Time stops"

The authenticity of one of the works on display - "The Girl with a Flute" - is questioned by the gallery that lent it, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, according to which the painting was "more probably painted by an associate of Vermeer's workshop".

The Rijksmuseum, however, claims to have reached a different conclusion based on shared information.

A visitor in front of the painting "Woman in blue reading a letter" by painter Johannes Vermeer exhibited at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, February 6, 2023 in the Netherlands © JOHN THYS / AFP

"I think for science and for knowledge of Vermeer, it's very important to have these discussions," says Dibbits.

He believes that part of Vermeer's appeal lies in his creation of silent worlds so realistic that the viewer feels lost in them.

“We live in such a hectic world,” Mr. Dibbits observes, “and then we stand before Vermeer, and time stands still.”

© 2023 AFP