The Vermeer and Music Exhibition has been on at the National Gallery for a while, and tomorrow is the last day - it had been on my list of "Things to Do" ever since it opened, but I just hadn't got round to going.
It was well worth the effort. In an age when there was no means of recording anything, music was very effemeral - it existed only in the moment of time when it was being played. So if you wanted music, then you needed musicians to play it at the time, and those who could afford to spent a lot of time playing ad singing in their own homes.
As well as Vermeer's paintings, the exhibition also featured musical instruments from the period, and a further treat was a live performance by two talented young musicians.
A further treat was the film about the exhibition - most exhibitions seem to include a film, and they are usually very well-made and informative. This one was no exception.
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