During the pandemic, the National Gallery of Arts (NGA) in Washington, D.C. investigated four paintings by Johannes Vermeer. During this period, a primer below the surface of one of the paintings was found. Girl in red hat (c. 1664–69), is a portrait of a man.
The museum’s conservation studio uses advanced imaging techniques to penetrate the paint layer almost and conduct microscopic examinations of the paint surface to analyze the Vermeer process. This earlier study showed that the man’s figure was the work of an unknown artist.
However, further research shows that Wilmer’s primer is always loose and completed faster, and then the master refines the work further, a process taught in art schools today, which is quite typical for most (not all) artists.
In primer, the man’s wide-brimmed hat and collar with a tassel tie dates back to 1650-55, when the outfit would be worn. If it was actually a William, it would make the painting the earliest known work of the artist, and its current status belongs to Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (1654-55).
This will also be considered the only known male portrait of him astronomer (1668) and Geographer (1668) Not considered, it would provide a greater context for the artist’s process and early careers.
NGA experts now argue male portraits Can Belongs to Vermeer. However, the theory is “not proven or denied yet”, Art newspaper Report Thursday.
The study also opens the door to the possibility of other unidentified works.
Inventory compiled by Vermeer after his death in 1676 shows that he owns two male portraits of Delft Artist Artist Fabritius. It has been suggested that hidden works can be drawn by Fabritius, while Vermeer’s paintings surpass it.
For Fabritius’s role, the artist has only about a dozen known works. If the hidden portrait was painted by him, it was also an influential discovery of his work.
