Hagar and the Angel by Carel Fabritius [Photo provided to China Daily]

Their motivation was to take works in private hands, seen for centuries only by a select few, and make them public, sometimes for the first time. Their goal was to become a lending library to museums and share their collection with the masses precisely as they are doing at the National Museum of China and in Shanghai.

The exhibition was facilitated by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to China. This year marks the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level 45 years ago. Attaché for Press and Cultural Affairs Ineke van de Pol said, "Over these years, the relations between the Netherlands and China have intensified and diversified, and we have established an open and pragmatic partnership for comprehensive cooperation. Cultural exchange is one of the important pillars of the friendship between the Netherlands and China. Having the Leiden Collection exhibition in China during this special year highlights the good bilateral relationship between our two countries."

Dr. Kaplan summed up his purpose for bringing the Leiden Collection to China. He said, "[The Dutch Golden Age] represented the first significant contact between the Netherlands and China. More than any other European society during this period, the Dutch evinced the strongest and deepest interest in the knowledge of Chinese culture and traditions. In the 17th century, it was the cultural world of Europe – and the Dutch Republic above all – that was transformed by engaging with China and, more broadly, Asia. It is nothing short of the return of this embrace, centuries later. That is our objective."