Catalogue of the Exhibition of Paintings by Old Masters

In 1872 Arti et Amicitiae, the Amsterdam artists’ society founded in 1839 on the Rokin, organised an exhibition of old master paintings drawn from private collections. The show carried the same title as an identically structured exhibition the society had mounted five years earlier, in 1867, suggesting a recurring programme of lending exhibitions rather than a single event.

Two works by Vermeer were included: The Milkmaid (catalogue no. 142) and The Little Street (catalogue no. 143). Both paintings were at this time in the Six family collection in Amsterdam, one of the most distinguished private holdings of Dutch Golden Age art in the country. The Milkmaid remained with that family until 1908, when it passed to the Rijksmuseum through a state purchase; The Little Street entered the museum in 1921 as a gift following a sale from the Six collection.