Pen meets paint

What happens when two art forms – the literary and the visual arts – come together? For its bicentenary, the Mauritshuis asked 200 writers to draw inspiration from the museum’s collection. The crème de la crème of today's literary community, from at home and abroad, participated in this remarkable book. One writer; one work of art from the Mauritshuis; 200 words per contribution – never before have so many authors appeared together in a single publication. To name just a few of the contributors: Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood, Nicci French, Arnon Grunberg, Nino Haratischwili, Murat Isik, Hilary Mantel, Cees Nooteboom, Connie Palmen, Sholeh Rezazadeh, Simon Schama and Donna Tartt. The authors themselves were allowed to decide what they wanted to write and the amazing result is stories, poems, short reflections, drawings and even a recipe.