Johannes Vermeer - A young woman seated at the virginals 1670-1672
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A young woman seated at the virginals 1670-1672
25x20cm oil/canvas
Private Collection. Leiden Collection, New York
The image is only being used for informational and educational purposes
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The painting originally had the same dimensions as Vermeer's Lacemaker. Tentative evidence that the canvas was cut from the same bolt as the Lacemaker, which was gathered in the 1990s, was strengthened by a later, more sophisticated study. The ground appears identical to that used for the two Vermeers owned by London's National Gallery. X-ray examination has revealed evidence of a pin-hole at the vanishing point, as habitually used by Vermeer in conjunction with a thread to achieve correct perspective in his paintings. Pigments are used in the painting in a way typical of Vermeer, most notably the expensive ultramarine as a component in the background wall. The use of green earth in shadows is also distinctive. The use of lead-tin-yellow suggests that the painting cannot be a nineteenth- or twentieth-century fake or imitation. Examination of the cloak, often cited as the crudest part of the painting, shows that it was painted over another garment after some time had elapsed. It is not known how long this gap was, or if Vermeer was responsible for the repainting.
The hairstyle can be dated to c.1670, and matches the hairstyle in the Lacemaker, which on other grounds is also often dated to the same period. It is not clear if the painting was completed before or after the similar but more ambitious Young Woman Seated at a Virginal in the National Gallery, London. The painting is unsigned