Lady Standing at a Virginal

Lady Standing at a Virginal is a genre painting created by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer in about 1670–1672, now in the National Gallery, London.

Lady Standing at a Virginal
ArtistJohannes Vermeer
Yearc. 1670–1672[1]
MediumOil on canvas
MovementDutch Golden Age painting
Dimensions51.7 cm × 45.2 cm (20.4 in × 17.8 in)[1]
LocationNational Gallery, London

Description

The oil painting depicts a richly dressed woman playing a virginal in a home with a tiled floor, paintings on the wall and some of the locally manufactured Delftware blue and white tiles of a type that appear in other Vermeer works.[2]

The identities of the paintings on the wall are not certain, according to the National Gallery, but the landscape on the left may be by either Jan Wijnants or Allart van Everdingen. The second painting, showing Cupid holding a card, is attributed to Caesar van Everdingen, Allart's brother. This motif originated in a contemporary emblem and may either represent the idea of faithfulness to a single lover or perhaps, reflecting the presence of the virginal, the traditional association of music and love.[2]

The painting has been dated on stylistic grounds and on the evidence of the costume. This work can be related to another Vermeer in the collection, Lady Seated at a Virginal,[2] on a canvas of almost exactly the same size, with which it may form a pair. A recent study has shown that the canvas for the two paintings came from the same bolt.[3] In addition, the ground applied to the canvas of each painting appears to be identical and also to be shared with the New York Young Woman Seated at the Virginals.[4]

The painting is depicted in David Hockney's 1977 oil painting Looking at Pictures on a Screen.[5]

See also

Further reading
  • Gaskell, Ivan (2000). Vermeer's Wager: Speculations on Art History, Theory and Art Museums. Reaktion Books. ISBN 1861890729. Structured around detailed discussion of Lady Standing at a Virginal
  • Liedtke, Walter A. (2001). Vermeer and the Delft School. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-87099-973-4.

References
  1. "Key facts: A Young Woman standing at a Virginal". National Gallery (London) web site. Archived from the original on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  2. "A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal". National Gallery, London web site. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  3. Walter Liedtke; C. Richard Johnson Jr.; Don H. Johnson. "Canvas matches in Vermeer: a case study in the computer analysis of canvas supports" (PDF). Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  4. Sheldon, Libby; Costaras, Nicolas (2006). "Johannes Vermeer's Young Woman Seated at a Virginal". Burlington Magazine. 148: 89–97.
  5. "Looking at Pictures on a Screen". Retrieved 9 February 2017.
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