In a message dated 1/7/04 10:09:06 AM Eastern Standard Time,=20 [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> Certainly the rosette looks rather odd - but this may be=A0 something to d= o > with the state of the painting.=A0 I seem to recall that many of his paint= ings > survive in a poor state or have been badly restored because they were all > sold off on his death.=A0 I must go and have another look at the original. >=20 This painting, The Guitar Player, in the Iveagh Bequest in Kenwood House, in= =20 Hampstead Heath, is the finest preserved Vermeer in existence.=A0 For one th= ing,=20 it is not even lined (that is, it does not have a typical later-added canvas= =20 adhered to the back of the original one) and the detail and paint textures a= re=20 perfectly preserved on this painting.=A0 The original wooden strainer to whi= ch=20 the painting is attached is, in fact, even the one the artist used.=A0 For t= hese=20 reasons, the painting is very fragile and therefore not even lent out to=20 exhibitions. I have seen The Music Lesson (Buckingham Palace) up close and, although=20 lined, it is also in superb condition.=A0=20 The guitar in the painting, by the way, was probably after one from the=20 Voboam firm in Paris.=A0=20 Interestingly, the woman has her right hand in a position as if plucking a=20 cittern with a plectrum, so it is possible that Vermeer simply borrowed the=20= hand=20 position from that or else posed the model in that way.=A0 Certainly, he had= =20 done such depictions earlier (such as in The Letter, in the Rijksmuseum,=20 Amsterdam). Two of the most damaged Vermeers are: The Lute Player, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Girl Interrupted at her Music Lesson, The Frick Collection, New York. (both are badly abraded from overcleaning) Kenneth Be Cleveland, Ohio --
