Carol Vogel‘s column announces the coming of a Vermeer to the Met for a show this fall celebrating the 40oth anniversary of Henry Hudson’s arrival:

Walter Liedtke, a curator in the Met’s department of European paintings, who has organized “Vermeer’s Masterpiece, ‘The Milkmaid,’ ” said that at first he wanted to borrow another painting from the Rijksmuseum, Rembrandt’s 1662 work “The Syndics,” the fabled image used by Dutch Masters cigars, because “it symbolizes a group of merchants representing business and trade and four different religions working together.” But, he said, conservators there decided that air travel would be too hazardous for the large canvas. Still, wanting to do something nice for New York, the Amsterdam museum offered to lend “The Milkmaid” instead.

The painting, which dates from 1657-58, was one of the first by Vermeer to be purchased by the Delft collector Pieter van Ruijven. By 1670 he owned 21 Vermeers, or about half of the artist’s lifetime output. The painting hasn’t traveled to New York since 1939, when it was shown at the World’s Fair.

Inside Art: A Milkmaid Prepares for a Lengthy Trip (New York Times)