'Girl with a Pearl Earring' to be shown in Japan, in rare trip abroad

The 17th century masterpiece will be loaned to the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka in August and September while its home museum in The Hague is closed for renovations.

"Girl with a Pearl Earring is one of the most famous paintings in the world... It is therefore loaned to other institutions only in highly exceptional circumstances," said the Mauritshuis.

The last time the portrait was out on loan was in 2023 for a less exotic trip to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

The painting went on a world tour in 2012-2014 while major building work was ongoing at the Mauritshuis. Some 2.2 million people visited that exhibition, according to the museum.

"For the Mauritshuis, the Girl's trip to Japan is an unique opportunity for us to share her with the Japanese public, perhaps for the very last time," said Martine Gosselink, general director of the Mauritshuis, in a statement.

Dubbed the "Mona Lisa of the North" for the inscrutable expression of its subject, which recalls Leonardo Da Vinci's famous portrait, the painting attained global fame after inspiring a best-selling novel that was turned into a Hollywood film.

The small canvas shows a young woman set on a dark background, her head turned towards the viewer and a pearl earring glinting from beneath her blue and cream turban.