There’s a nieuw girl in town, and she’s a knockout. As part of the Netherlands’ celebration of Hendrick Hudson’s arrival on these once pristine shores 400 years ago, the Rijksmusuem has loaned Vermeer’s “The Milkmaid”  (aka “The Kitchen Maid”) to the Metropolitan Museum where it is now on view with the five Vermeers in the Met’s permanent Collection. (The Rijksmuseum has but four of the 35 or so paintings firmly attributed to Vermeer).  The lovely and informative installation is on view from September 9 to November 29 – and we can thank not only “NY 400 – Holland on the Hudson,”  the anniversary celebration (taking place all over New York City in various creative ways), but also extensive renovation at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The museum’s curator of 17th century Dutch, Pieter  Roelofs, assured an audience of art journalists (and travel agents, art tour planners, etc.) that while much of the structure is under construction, an ongoing exhibition of 400 masterpieces of 17th century Dutch art is welcoming visitors until the museum reopens in 2013.  The Met installation includes a Vermeer timeline, and places his work in the context of such important contemporaries as Gerard ter Borch, Pieter de Hooch, Gabriel Metsu and  Emanuel de Witte. This exhibition is a treat.