in WOW

Vermeer Restoration Reveals Cupid Hidden for Over 350 Years

by viralbandit August 26, 2021, 7:56 pm 1k Views

[ad_1]

“Girl Examining a Letter at an Open Window” by Johannes Vermeer. 1657-1659. (Photograph: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden / Wolfgang Kreische)

Johannes Vermeer is an intriguing artist. Moderately productive through his time, the Dutch painter died leaving his relatives in debt and having made a restricted range of paintings. In fact, only 34 paintings—including his popular Lady with the Pearl Earring—are attributed to him today. Even so, his attractiveness rose right after the 19th century and today, when there is news of a Vermeer, it will make waves. And that is just what is happened with the announcement of a current Vermeer restoration.

Soon after two and a 50 % yrs, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden in Germany has disclosed the results of a main restoration to the Vermeer in their collection. Lady Looking through a Letter at an Open Window was painted among 1657 and 1659 and has been in the museum’s selection considering the fact that 1742. As often occurs with Vermeer’s operate, the portray was at first attributed to other artists. But in 1880, French art critic Théophile Thoré-Bürger arrived upon the painting and the right way attributed it to the Dutch Master.

The oil painting reveals a young lady, finely dressed in yellow and black, looking at a letter future to an open up window. At first, the wall driving her was blank, but a 1979 x-ray confirmed that there was basically something on it. Beneath the plain wall was really a “painting” of a naked Cupid. As it was not uncommon for artists to paint around their operate, scholars in the beginning accepted that Vermeer experienced just adjusted his intellect and made a decision to retain the wall bare.

Dresden Vermeer Painting Before and During Restoration

Still left: “Girl Looking through a Letter at an Open up Window” prior to restoration (Picture: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden / Klut – Estel) | Appropriate: “Girl Reading through a Letter at an Open up Window” throughout restoration (Picture: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden / Wolfgang Kreische)

Even so, a exploration job commenced in 2017 refuted those claims. Thanks to highly developed technological know-how, researchers were equipped to conclude that the overpainting was done quite a few a long time after the canvas was finished. This information and facts fully revolutionized the get the job done, as artwork historians now realized that they had been not hunting at Vermeer’s legitimate imaginative eyesight. Therefore, restoration professionals from the museum commenced thoroughly performing to take away the overpainting in 2018.

When the get the job done was completed in early 2021, artwork historians could gain a new appreciation for the portray. “With the recovery of Cupid in the background, the real intention of the Delft painter will become recognizable,” states Stephan Koja, director of the Old Masters Picture Gallery. “Beyond the ostensibly amorous context, it is about a fundamental assertion about the nature of true appreciate. So in advance of what we seemed at was only rudimentary. Now we realize it as a vital picture in his oeuvre.” In fact, as Koja factors out, Woman Reading a Letter at an Open up Window stands at the beginning of a sequence of painting in which Vermeer exhibits a lady in a silent, reflective second.

Now, thanks to the restoration, art enthusiasts close to the globe will be able to delight in the artwork as Vermeer supposed. To celebrate the completed restoration, the painting has been positioned at the centerpiece of a new exhibition at the museum. Johannes Vermeer. On pausing will operate from September 10, 2021 to January 2, 2022 and will contain 9 other paintings by Vermeer closely related to the restored artwork.

h/t: [ART News]