Image via Google Art Project / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Johannes Vermeer’s Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, painted sometime around 1657 to 1659, is one of the artist’s greatest works. However, it wasn’t known until centuries later that the wall behind the girl wasn’t meant to be empty.
Image via Google Art Project / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Dresden’s Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister released a first image of the now-restored piece of work, the “new” art fully revealing a hidden image of Cupid.
The Art Newspaper reports that the hidden Cupid was discovered in an X-ray in 1979. Then, it was confirmed in 2009 via infrared reflectography.
At the time, it was assumed that Vermeer had covered it up himself, perhaps having changed his mind after the painting was complete.
However, a restoration project in May 2017 indicated that this wasn’t the case; the paint used to cover Cupid had different properties to the original. More analysis showed that there were layers of dirt and binding agent between Cupid and the added paint, suggesting at least a few decades between the two.
The meaning of Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window changes drastically given the romantic connotations that Cupid holds. In its statement, the museum notes that he “steps on the masks of disguise” that lie on the ground in front of him, indicating “a sign of sincere love that overcomes deceit and hypocrisy.”
The newly-restored painting will go on show next month as the central attraction of Johannes Vermeer: On Reflection , an exhibition scheduled to run from Septemer 10, 2021 to January 2, 2022.
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