Botched art restoraÂtions make good headÂlines, but rarely are we asked to conÂsidÂer if a posthuÂmous change to a great masÂter’s work repÂreÂsents an improveÂment. And yet, when images of a restored Girl ReadÂing a LetÂter at an Open WinÂdow by Jan VerÂmeer cirÂcuÂlatÂed recentÂly, the world had the chance to comÂpare the restored origÂiÂnal paintÂing, at the left, with an unknown painter’s reviÂsion, long thought to be VerÂmeer’s work. (Click here to view the paintÂings side by side in a largÂer forÂmat.) SevÂerÂal peoÂple announced that they preÂferred the docÂtored paintÂing on the right, first attribÂuted to VerÂmeer in 1880 (and preÂviÂousÂly attribÂuted to Dutch masÂters RemÂbrandt and Hals).
As conÂserÂvaÂtors found at the conÂcluÂsion of a restoraÂtion project begun in 2017, it is the paintÂing on the left that VerÂmeer intendÂed as his final stateÂment on the subÂject of a girl readÂing a letÂter at an open winÂdow. That paintÂing puts the subÂject in a very difÂferÂent light. The naked Cupid behind the young woman — in place of an ambiguÂousÂly dour patch of beige — revisÂes over a cenÂtuÂry of art hisÂtorÂiÂcal interÂpreÂtaÂtion. “With the recovÂery of Cupid in the backÂground, the actuÂal intenÂtion of the Delft painter becomes recÂogÂnizÂable,” says Stephan Koja, direcÂtor of the Old MasÂters PicÂture Gallery.
Art hisÂtoÂriÂans and conÂserÂvaÂtors had long known the othÂer paintÂing was underÂneath, havÂing disÂcovÂered it via X‑ray in 1979. But they assumed it was VerÂmeer himÂself who made the change. “As it was not uncomÂmon for artists to paint over their work,” My ModÂern Met writes, “scholÂars iniÂtialÂly acceptÂed that VerÂmeer had simÂply changed his mind and decidÂed to keep the wall bare.” Instead, thanks to the 2017 restoraÂtion project, “researchers were able to conÂclude that the overÂpaintÂing was comÂpletÂed over sevÂerÂal decades after the canÂvas was finÂished.”
“VerÂmeer often incorÂpoÂratÂed empÂty backÂgrounds in his genre paintÂings,” a feaÂture that has become someÂthing of a hallÂmark thanks to the fame of paintÂings like The MilkÂmaid. This is one reaÂson the Cupid went underÂcovÂer for so long, despite an unbalÂanced comÂpoÂsiÂtion withÂout it. But VerÂmeer also incorÂpoÂratÂed backÂgrounds filled with art, includÂing the same Cupid paintÂing, which appears in his lessÂer known A Young Woman StandÂing at a VirÂginal and may have been a paintÂing he himÂself owned. “There has been much specÂuÂlaÂtion,” the NationÂal Gallery notes, that this paintÂing (and anothÂer, simÂiÂlarÂly titled work) repÂreÂsent “fideliÂty” and “a venal, merÂceÂnary approach to love.” What approach might be sugÂgestÂed by the newÂly restored Girl ReadÂing a LetÂter at an Open WinÂdow?
via ColosÂsal
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
Josh Jones is a writer and musiÂcian based in Durham, NC. FolÂlow him at @jdmagness
Dutch painters of that periÂod often used and reused symÂbolÂism to express what is going on in the minds of rhe peoÂple in the picÂture. The Cupid is obviÂous, she was readÂing a love letÂter. AnothÂer paintÂing from that periÂod showed a man being served a drink in a tavÂern by a buxÂom waitÂress and two dogs were copÂuÂlatÂing in the backÂground.