GIRL WITH A FLUTE

c. 1665-1670
oil on panel
7 7/8 x 7 in.  (20 x 17.8 cm.)
National Gallery, Washington D.C.
Widner Collection

"'The Young Girl with a Flute' is the only painting on panel....other than 'Girl with a Red Hat'." Owing also to similarities in scale and subject matter, scholars frequently cited these works as pendants. Indeed, both girls look expectantly towards the viewer with eyes alert and half-open mouths. Each wears an exotic hat, sits before a tapestry in a chair with lion finials, and leans on one arm. Light enters from the left in both compositions, striking the left cheek, nose, and chin of both figures. A thin green glaze pulled over the flesh tone, moreover, indicates the shaded positions of both faces. Finally, colored highlights accent each mouth, turquoise in 'Young Girl with a Flute' and pink in 'The Girl with a Red Hat'."

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., Jan Vermeer, 1981