On The Town: The "explosion of epistolary activity in Dutch 17th-century society" is currently being celebrated at the National Gallery of Ireland.
Love Letters - Dutch Genre Paintings in the Age of Vermeer was officially opened by Jacobus Van Der Velden, the Dutch Ambassador, earlier this week.
In their day, the paintings documented for the first time "the full range and power of letters . . . as a highly personal form of communicating pleasure, pain and a full spectrum of emotion", he said.
According to Peter Sutton, curator of the exhibition and author of the catalogue: "There are 44 paintings in the exhibition and it's a complete survey of the subject."
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view probably the most important collection of Dutch Old Masters ever in Dublin," added Sutton, who is director of the Bruce Museum of Arts and Sciences in Connecticut.
"It's a very different approach to today's correspondence," he said, comparing the letter writers of long ago with today's writers of e-mails.
The gallery has pulled off something of a coup with the inclusion of three Vermeer masterpieces. The Vermeers, on loan from Washington and Amsterdam, "were never supposed to travel again", Sutton said, complimenting Raymond Keaveney, director of the National Gallery, for capitalising on the "good credit" he has with these sister institutions by arranging the loans.
"We cannot read what's in the letters themselves. All of them had to do with wonderful affairs of the heart," said Sutton.
Also on view are six letter-writing manuals, which give examples of the best way to write.
The guests, including artists Beth O'Halloran and Mick O'Dea and art historian Barbara O'Connell, were urged by Jenny McDermott, of Peter Mark, the main corporate sponsor of the event, to visit the exhibition and "please, please don't keep these particular love letters a secret", she said.
Love Letters - Dutch Genre Paintings in the Age of Vermeer runs at the National Gallery, Dublin until December 31st