CLASS DISTINCTIONS: DUTCH PAINTING IN THE AGE OF REMBRANDT AND VERMEER A sustained, scholarly, and visually resplendent examination of the way Dutch Golden Age painting reflects the full spectrum of Dutch society. Includes work by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, Ter Borch, and many others, lent by major museums around the world. Through Jan. 18. Museum of Fine Arts. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org

ORNAMENT AND ILLUSION: CARLO CRIVELLI AND VENICE The first show dedicated to the great Renaissance painter in the United States. The exhibition reunites four of the six sections of Crivelli’s Porto San Giorgio Altarpiece, and gathers together 20 other Crivelli paintings from US and European collections. Through Jan. 25. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 617-566 -1401, www.gardner museum.org

Whistler and the World: The Lunder Collection of James McNeill Whistler at the Colby College Museum of Art A show of many prints complemented by works in other media by the perennially popular native of Lowell. Through Jan. 10. Waterville, Maine. 207-859-5600, www.colby .edu/academics_cs/museum

THE ARTIST IN THE CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE Celebrated depictions of Connecticut, from the 18th to the 20th centuries, borrowed from major museums around the state. (Pictured: Beatrice Cuming’s “Saturday Night, New London.’’) Through Jan. 31. Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, Conn.. 860-434-5542, www.florence griswoldmuseum.org SEBASTIAN SMEE

Sebastian Smee can be reached at ssmee@globe.com.