PORTLAND, Oregon.-The blockbuster exhibition Hesse: A Princely German Collection is on view at the Portland Art Museum. Hesse: A Princely German Collection is a private collection of unique breadth and scope. The special exhibition is an historical exploration into Germany’s lasting cultural legacy as told through the many acquisitions of the Hesse family dynasty. This exhibition of over 400 works of art will be presented for the first time in an exclusive, worldwide debut at the Portland Art Museum. Organized by the Portland Art Museum in close cooperation with His Royal Highness Moritz Landgraf of Hesse and his son, Prince Donatus, the multi-faceted collection represents over five centuries of art, including six German national treasures, and Hans Holbein’s Madonna, considered the masterpiece of 16th century German Renaissance painting. The exhibition is on view through March 19, 2006. Critical sponsors of this exhibition include patrons Marty and Kay Brantley, Freightliner, Lufthansa Airlines and Wells Fargo.

Graciously on loan for 16 months by the Mauritshuis and the Dutch Royal Cabinet of Paintings, the Portland Art Museum hosts a very important grouping of seven works selected for their exemplary representation of 17th-century Dutch art, ultimately defining one of the greatest movements of all time, The Golden Age of Art. On view will be masterpieces by Jan Steen, Jan Wijnats, Frans Hals, Cornelis de Man, Johan Moreelse, Gerrit Berckheyde, and Maria van Oosterwyck.

World-famed for the quality of its holdings, which include Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, the Mauritshuis was built in 1640 as the residence of Prince Maurits of Nassau, in the center of the Hague, adjacent to the government palace of the Binnenhof. In 1820 it was purchased by the state to house the Dutch Royal Cabinet of Paintings as a public museum. Focused on Dutch and Flemish painting of the 17th century, the collections have continued to grow with private support, each new acquisition being measured by the surpassing standard of the core collection.