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Apollo
Art Diary

Johannes Vermeer: On Reflection

3 September 2021

Acquired by the Elector of Saxony in 1742, Johannes Vermeer’s Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window has since become one of the most revered paintings held in the Dresden State Art Collections. As a result of conservation work begun in 2017, however, researchers determined that extensive overpainting after Vermeer’s death has for centuries obscured a significant portion of the artist’s intended composition – a depiction of Cupid hanging on the wall behind the girl. Conservation has since brought the work closer to its original state; it goes on display here along with nine other works by Vermeer, and a further 50 by contemporaries such as Pieter de Hooch and Gerrit Dou. The exhibition runs from 10 September–2 January 2022; find out more from the SKD’s website.

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Girl Reading a Letter at the Open Window (before restoration; (1657–59), Johannes Vermeer.

Girl Reading a Letter at the Open Window (before restoration; 1657–59), Johannes Vermeer. Photo: Klut/Estel; © SKD

Girl Reading a Letter at the Open Window (1657–59), Johannes Vermeer.

Girl Reading a Letter at the Open Window (after restoration; 1657–59), Johannes Vermeer. Photo: Wolfgang Kreische; © Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

At the Matchmaker (1656), Joannes Vermeer.

At the Matchmaker (1656), Johannes Vermeer. Photo: Klut/Estel; © SKD

Woman with the Scales (1662–65), Johannes Vermeer.

Woman with the Scales (1662–65), Johannes Vermeer. Photo: © National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Widener Collection

The Painter in his Workshop (1647), Gerard Dou.

The Painter in his Workshop (1647), Gerrit Dou. Photo: Klut/Estel; © SKD