NEW Carlton Cinema in Okehampton is joining more than 70 others across the UK and thousands in over 30 countries in airing a unique film about one of the most fascinating painters in history, Vermeer.

The film Vermeer and Music: the Art of Love and Leisure, is the first of a series specifically for cinema, entitled Exhibition on Screen. It will show, for the first time, more than half of Vermeer's paintings in high-definition on the big screen. The paintings are part of a National Gallery exhibition.

The film will capture a fascinating exhibition that explores the musical pastimes of 17th-century Netherlands by combining the art of Vermeer and his contemporaries with rare musical instruments, songbooks and live music from the Academy of Ancient Music.?It will also provide an in-depth look at Vermeer's biography and artistic output.

It has also filmed in New York, where audiences are being treated to the first large screen images from the new Vermeer room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which features all five of their Vermeers hanging together for the first time. It has also filmed in Washington, where four more works by the Dutch master hang.

In Europe, the film visits Amsterdam then The Hague and Delft to explore the masterpieces, and to find out more about the life of the man who created them.

The film has been made by award winning arts documentary maker Phil Grabsky and Seventh Arts Productions.

Phil Grabsky said: 'To have launched the 2013 season with three stunning shows from three world class venues has been an absolute thrill, and I have been bowled over by the positive audience response.

'So many people simply would never have a chance to see these exhibitions, nor, often, these paintings in such detail nor these artists' biographies in such an accessible and engaging way. I want to encourage people to go to galleries but if you live thousands of miles away or indeed are elderly, infirm or simply can't get child-care, then people are delighted with what we are doing.'

The film airs at the New Carlton Cinema at 7pm on October 10.