A Restored Vermeer Painting Reveals a Hidden Cupid Artwork Hanging in the Background

[ornotna]

Last edited Sun Aug 29, 2021, 07:41 PM - Edit history (1)

A years-long restoration undertaken by the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden has entirely altered the understanding of a 17th-century painting by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. What was once thought to be a somewhat glum depiction of a young girl reading near a window is now an amorous portrayal thanks to the unveiling of a naked Cupid hanging in the background.

Conservators knew the image of the Roman god of love existed after a 1979 X-ray, although it was assumed that Vermeer had altered the piece himself. Only after they performed a series of infrared reflectography imagings, microscopic analyses, and X-ray fluorescence examinations in 2017 did they realize that the Cupid was covered decades after the painter’s death, even though they still aren’t sure who marred the original piece or when. This dramatic of an alteration is rare during restoration, considering standard processes generally involve simple cleaning and repairs.

“When layers of varnish from the 19th century began to be removed from the painting, the conservators discovered that the ‘solubility properties’ of the paint in the central section of the wall were different to those elsewhere in the painting,” a statement says, explaining further:

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/08/vermeer-cupid-painting/



Edit to add.

For more than two hundred and fifty years Johannes Vermeer's famous painting “Girl Reading a Letter at the Open Window” has taken a permanent place among the main works in the Dresden Gemäldegalerie. The picture, dated around 1657/59, is considered to be one of the earliest interior paintings by Vermeer's with a single figure. Earlier X-ray examinations gave indications that a picture was painted over with the representation of a naked Cupid. New laboratory tests now show beyond doubt 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 picture to remove the overpainting layer. The painting can thus be seen again as it left the artist's studio.