Johannes Vermeer

Illustration number 1000314318
Dimensions: 2068x2400 pixels
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Illustration number 0000052855
Dimensions: 650x568 pixels
License undetermined

Illustration number 0000052856
Dimensions: 5906x6890 pixels
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Illustration number 0000052857
Dimensions: 650x568 pixels
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Illustration number 0000052858
Dimensions: 650x568 pixels
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Illustration number 0000052859
Dimensions: 650x568 pixels
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Illustration number 0000052860
Dimensions: 650x568 pixels
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Object information

Object category: painting
Support/medium: canvas, oil paint
Shape/dimensions: rectangle (portrait format) 44 x 38 cm

Signature/inscription Information about the signature, dating, inscription or any other mark on the front or back of the art work

signed left center: IVMeer
IVM ineen

Current attribution: Johannes Vermeer

Date Exact or approximate dating of the described art work; the search parameters adopted for this art work in this database, are found in brackets.: c. 1668-1670 (1669 - 1670)

c. 1669-1670 (Wheelock 1997; Liedtke 2008); c. 1668-1669 (Franits 2015)

Subject

Title Title of the art-work in Dutch: De liefdesbrief
English title: The Love Letter
Genre: genre
Keywords: genre, interior view, two human figures, woman, domestic (servant), full-length portrait, standing (position), sitting, looking up, smiling, letter in the hand, cittern, chair, sheet music, scarve, broom, basket, sewing equipment, shoe, national map, chimney wing, drapery (representation), gilt leather hanging, painting (depicted), checkered stone floor, background view, pearl necklace, pear-shaped pearl, headcloths
Iconclass code Iconclass codes and text contain specific scenes and names. An Iconclass code or notation is a code from the multi-lingual Iconclass system for subject retrieval. For more information about this system, see www.iconclass.nl.: 46E221
letter, envelope
42F51
maid<
33C2121
lover with love-letter
48C7324
cithern, mandolin, guitar, balalaika

Artistically related

Artistically related to other work Such as a preparatory studie, comparable composition, other version, or copy of the artwork in this record.

inspired by
Gabriel Metsu, Brieflezende vrouw en een dienstmeid in een interieur
Vermeer adopted the main motif of a seated woman who just received a letter from a maidservant, elements of the dress of both figures (especially the dress of the maid, which is identical), the use of full-length figures, motifs such as the marine painting on the wall in the background, the wicker basket with needlework, the shoe. (Waiboer 2012, p. 124-125)
used as model for
Pieter de Hooch, Man en vrouw met papegaai in een interieur
De Hooch adopted the motif of a view from a dimly lit room through the door opening to a brightly lit space, the curtain, the broom, the chair upon which lie paraphernalia related to music and the floor with black and white marble tiles. (Sutton 1998, p. 178)
used as model for
Jacob Ochtervelt, Vrouw met een voedster en een kind in een interieur
Ochtervelt adopted the main motif of a lady seated near a fireplace with a woman servant standing by her to the left, the placement of the protagonists back in the space near the wall and at a distance from the beholder, the lighting, the combination of a painting in a black frame and a mantlepiece that is decorated with ionic columns, the floor with lozenge-shaped black and white tiles, a wicker object at the left, the cushion on the floor at the left and the use of full-length figures. (as observed by E. Schavemaker)
used as model for
Jacob Ochtervelt, Vrouw, haar schoothondje plagend terwijl een dienstmeid toekijkt
Ochtervelt adopted the grouping of a seated woman in frontal view and a standing maid beside her, the use of full-length figures, the tiled floor in lozenge formation, the motif of the broom and the rectangular shapes of the map and door opening, which echo the painting and mantlepiece in the Vermeer. (as observed by E. Schavemaker)

Provenance

Collection(s)

private collection Pieter van Lennep, Amsterdam
1810 - 1850 possibly acquired around1810; (Liedtke 2008)
private collection Margaretha Catharina van Lennep, Amsterdam
1850 - 1891 (Liedtke 2008)
private collection J.F. van Lennep, Amsterdam
1892 (Liedtke 2008)
Vereniging Rembrandt, Amsterdam
1892 - 1893 (Liedtke 2008)
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam , inv./cat.nr A 1595
with support of Vereniging Rembrandt
1893-01 - (Liedtke 2008)

Auction(s)

Roos & Co., C.F. (Amsterdam (city)) 1892-03-29, lotnr. 14
Contributor Messchert van Vollenhoven
Name buyer : Vereniging Rembrandt , 45100 HFL

zie Liedtke 2008

Exhibitions and literature

Exhibitions

Dutch painting. The Golden Age (New York) Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York City , 1954 - 1955 , 86
The orange and the rose : Holland and Britain in the age of observation, 1600-1750 Victoria and Albert Museum , London (England) , 1964-10-22 - 1964-12-13 , 74
Holländska mästare i Svensk ägo Nationalmuseum Stockholm , Stockholm (city) , 1967-03-03 - 1967-04-30
Rembrandt en zijn tijd [1971] Paleis voor Schone Kunsten , Brussels , 1971-09-23 - 1971-11-21 , 112
Tot lering en vermaak Rijksmuseum Amsterdam , Amsterdam (city) , 1976-09-16 - 1976-12-05 , p. 268-271, nr. 71, met afb.
Johannes Vermeer [Washington, 1995] Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Mauritshuis , The Hague (city) , 1996-03-01 - 1996-06-02 , nr. 18, met afb., als ca. 1669-1670
Vermeer y el interior holandés = Vermeer and the Dutch interior Museo del Prado , Madrid (city, Spain) , 2003-02-19 - 2003-05-18 , 39
Dutch masters from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam National Gallery of Victoria , Melbourne , 2005-06-24 - 2005-10-02
Vermeer, Rembrandt and the golden age of Dutch art : masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum Vancouver Art Gallery , Vancouver (Canada) , 2009-05-09 - 2009-09-13

Literature

Hofstede de Groot 1907-1925 , vol. 1, p. 600-601, nr. 32
De Vries 1939 , nr. 35
Van Thiel et al. 1976 , p. 572, nr. A 1595
Blankert/Ruurs/van de Watering 1977 , p. 73-87 nr. 22, afb. 22
Slatkes 1981 , p. 73-74
Wheelock 1981 (Vermeer) , p. 140-142
Blankert 1987 , p. 128-142, nr. 22, afb. 21
Broos et al. 1995 , nr. 18
Wheelock 1997 , p. 62, afb. 31
Gowing 1997 , p. 152, afb. 62-63
Liedtke 2000 , p. 111, 162-163, 252-254
Vergara/Westermann 2003 , p. 182, nr. 39, met afb. in kleur op p. 183
Wright 2005 , p. 80, nr. 33, met afb. in kleur op p. 81
Liedtke 2008 , p. 156-159, p. 197, nr. 30, met afb. in kleur op p. 157

A. van Schendel, 'De liefdesbrief hersteld/The Love Letter Restored', Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 20 (1972), p. 127-128
P.J.J. van Thiel, 'Beschadiging en herstel van Vermeer's Liefdesbrief/The Damaging and Restoration of Vermeer's Love Letter', Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 20 (1972), p. 129-146
L. Kuiper, 'Restauratieverslag van vermeer's Liefdesbrief/Report on the Restoration of Vermeer's Love Letter', Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 20 (1972), p. 147-167
J.A. Welu, 'Vermeer: His cartographic sources', The Art Bulletin 57 (1975), p. 533
A. Blankert, Vermeer of Delft, Oxford 1978, p. 53-54, nr. 22
J.M. Nash, Vermeer, Londen 1991, p. 82
E. Goodman, 'The landscape on the wall in Vermeer' in: W.E. Franits, The Cambridge companion to Vermeer, Cambridge 2001, p. 76-78
L. Vergara, 'Women, letters, artistic beauty: Vermeer's theme and variations', in: P.C. Sutton, Love letters. Dutch genre paintings in the age of Vermeer, Dublin, Greenwich 2003, p. 56-57

Visual documentation

Visual documentation

Location image Location of the image in the visual documentation.

BD/Digital Collection (img.nr. 1000314318)
, Original location BD/RKD/0558 - ONS/Genre 2: General (img.nr. 0000052855)
, Original location BD/RKD/0558 - ONS/Genre 2: General (img.nr. 0000052856)
, Original location BD/RKD/0558 - ONS/Genre 2: General (img.nr. 0000052857)
, Original location BD/RKD/0558 - ONS/Genre 2: General (img.nr. 0000052858)
, Original location BD/RKD/0558 - ONS/Genre 2: General (img.nr. 0000052859)
, Original location BD/RKD/0558 - ONS/Genre 2: General (img.nr. 0000052860)

Project: Dutch Public Collections Project
Connect Vermeer

Technical documentation

The RKD manages a collection of technical documentation that has been given to us by external researchers and museums or which stems from the RKD's own research with infrared reflectography. Documentation can be accessed by appointment at the RKD. While not all technical documentation has been entered in the database at present, new data is added on a regular basis.

4 hits in RKD technical, relating to:

Technical examination type

Research and restoration projects

scientific research Counting Vermeer: Using Weave Maps to Study Vermeer's Canvases, 2012 — 2017 1 hits
involved_persons: Richard C. Johnson Jr.; William A. Sethares; Walter Liedtke; Arthur Wheelock; Michiel Franken; Petria Noble; Sytske Weidema; Ige Verslype; Rob Erdmann

Permalink: https://rkd.nl/explore/images/24906

Creation date: 1999-10-12; Last modified date: 2022-09-14

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Johannes Vermeer

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