Today is Thursday..

... the day that the National Gallery in Dublin offer concessions on admittance fees to all comers. Most of the gallery is free for all, but the current exhibition by Gabriel Metzu normally costs 7 Euro.

I'm not usually a great fan of Dutch interiors with their arcane moral lessons and exaggerated domestic dramas. Give me a gentle Corot landscape any day.
However, having made the effort to take public transport and get to the gallery on a Thursday, I was delighted to find the entrance was just 4 Euro and even more delighted to discover that far from being a heavy-handed litany of moral lessons this exhibition glows with life and sparkles with astonishingly fresh colours.
There are several cases of artifacts from wealthy Dutch houses and the sombre lighting, designed to protect the pigments, has a calming effect on the visitors.
A series of lectures ensure that one goes to the exhibition with a deeper understanding of the culture of the time and most of them are free.