Johannes Vermeer, Girl Reading a Letter

ca 1659

Johannes Vermeer, Girl Reading a Letter

ca 1659

Paintings sorted by     Historical period   |   Painter   |  Subject matter   |  Pigments used

Johannes-Vermeer-Girl-reading-a-letter

Overview

The painting is also known as ‘Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window’

 

Medium: Oil
Support: Canvas
Size: 83.0 x 64.5 cm
Art period: Baroque

Gemäldegalerie Dresden
Gal.-Nr. 1336
High-resolution image at Google Cultural Institute

 

The painting was painstakingly restored during four years between 2017 and early 2021. See the details of the restoration process and the surprising outcome in the section on Pigments.

Pigments

Pigment Analysis

This pigment analysis is based on the work of Hermann Kühn of Doerner Institute in Munich (1).

 

Vermeer-Girl-Reading-a-Letter-pigments

 

White ground from the lower edge: chalk and lead white.

White paint from the window opening: lead white.

Vermeer-Girl-Reading-a-Letter-pigments-1

 

Reddish-white paint from the window opening: lead white, umber, and possibly lead-tin-yellow.

Vermeer-Girl-Reading-a-Letter-pigments-2

 

3 Greenish-white paint from the curtain, lower part: lead white, green earth and possibly lead-tin-yellow.

VVermeer-Girl-Reading-a-Letter-pigments-3

 

4 Yellow sleeve: lead-tin-yellow.

Vermeer-Girl-Reading-a-Letter-pigments-4

 

5 Green curtain, upper part: a mixture of azurite and lead-tin-yellow.

 

Vermeer-Girl-Reading-a-Letter-pigments-5

 

6 Blue paint from the tablecloth and the blue window frame: natural ultramarine and lead white.

VVermeer-Girl-Reading-a-Letter-pigments-6-7

 

7 Red paint from the tablecloth and the red curtain: vermilionmadder lake, and lead white.

Vermeer-Girl-Reading-a-Letter-pigments-7

 

References

(1) Kuhn, H. A Study of the Pigments and Grounds Used by Jan VermeerReports and Studies in the History of Art, 1968, 154–202.

Restoration of the painting

Quote from the website of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden

“For more than 250 years now, the famous painting by Johannes Vermeer featuring a profile depiction of a girl intently reading a letter in front of a light-coloured empty wall has held a firm place among the masterpieces in the Dresden Gemäldegalerie. This picture, which dates to around 1657–1659, is regarded as one of the earliest interior paintings by Vermeer with a solitary figure. Previous X-ray examinations indicated that a picture of a naked Cupid in the painting had been overpainted. Today, new laboratory tests have conclusively determined that the overpainting was not by Vermeer’s hand. On this basis, the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister decided in the course of the current restoration of the work to remove the overpaint. The painting can now be enjoyed looking just as it did when it left the artist’s studio.”

 

Johannes-Vermeer-Girl-Reading-a-Letter

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Video: Restoration of the painting (in German)

Resources

See the collection of online and offline resources such as books, articles, videos, and websites on Johannes Vermeer in the section ‘Resources on Painters

PowerPoint Presentations

Painter in Context: Johannes Vermeer

Painter-in-context:-Johannes-Vermeer-paintings

 

A richly illustrated presentation on the painting technique and pigments employed by Johannes Vermeer specially crafted for Art Education. (Number of Slides = 24)

 

  • Each presentation starts with the basic resources on the painter such as his biography, main catalogs of his paintings, and a bibliography.
  • Next, you find slides describing the painting technique of the artist and the pigments he usually employed in his work.
  • The majority of the slides show examples of paintings containing the specific pigments.

 

Painter-in-context-Johannes-Vermeer-paintings

Slides showing the basic resources on the paintings of the Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer. 

 

Painter-in-context-Johannes-Vermeer-painting-technique

The painting technique of Johannes Vermeer is described and illustrated in the next slides.

Painter-in-context-Johannes-Vermeer-pigments 

The majority of the slides show important examples of paintings where Vermeer employed specific pigments. The slides are organized according to the color of the pigments.

Videos

Video: 'Johannes Vermeer, Girl Reading a Letter' by Jan Freidlin

Publications and Websites

Publications

(1) Christoph Schölzel, “Zur Entstehung des Gemäldes Brieflesendes Mädchen am offenen Fenster,” in: Der frühe Vermeer, ed. Uta Neidhardt, Berlin, München 2010, pp. 83-97. Catalog of the exhibition “Young Vermeer” in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. 

(2) Gaskell, I. and Jonker, M., Vermeer Studies, in Studies in the History of Art, 55, National Gallery of Art, Washington 1998.

(3) Marjorie E. Wieseman, Wayne Franits & H. Perry Chapman, Vermeer’s Women: Secrets and Silence, Yale University Press 2011. 

Websites

Johannes Vermeer, A Lady Reading a Letter in the online collection of the Gemäldegalerie Dresden

Janson, J., Johannes Vermeer, A Lady Reading a Letter, Essential Vermeer, website

The Young Vermeer, Exhibition in the Gemäldegalerie Dresden. Professors, docents, and students of the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden rebuilt the chamber of the “girl reading a letter” true to the original and to the scale.

Essential Vermeer