A Lady Seated at a Virginal

(Zittende virginaalspeelster)

c. 1670-1675
oil on canvas
20 3/4 x 17 7/8 in. (51.5 x 45.5 cm.)
The National Gallery, London

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critical excerpt

inscribed at left below the upper edge of the virginal: IVMeer (IVM in ligature)

c. 1675
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (Vermeer: The Complete Works, New York, 1997)

c. 1670-1672
Walter Liedtke (Vermeer: The Complete Paintings, New York, 2008)

The fine, plain-weave linen support has a thread count of 14 x 14 per cm². The original tacking edges have been removed. Cusping is visible along top and bottom and very faintly along both sides. The support has been lined. The double ground consists of a pale gray beneath a pale, warm gray buff. The first layer contains lead white, chalk and charcoal black; the second contains lead white, chalk, and a red-brown earth.

The flesh color was painted with green earth over a pink layer; the shadows with two additional layers, a mixture containing green earth followed by a deep red shadow. The blue upholstery was underpainted with a a gray-blue layer; the highlights were modeled with a blue, then a pale blue layer and and the shadows with gray. The outlines of the tiles at the- bottom of the wall were scratched in the wet paint. A pinhole by which Vermeer marked the vanishing point is visible in the paint layer on the sleeve of the woman's dress.

There is some abrasion in the three paintings within the painting, in the lady's right cheek and the dark blue of her tunic, and in the blue upholstery. The ultramarine pigment in the darker blues of the chair has deteriorated.

* Johannes Vermeer (exh. cat., National Gallery of Art and Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis - Washington and The Hague, 1995, edited by Arthur Wheelock)

literature

  • (?) Diego Duarte, Antwerp (1682, sold before 1691), or (?) Dissius sale, Amsterdam, 16 May 1696, no. 37, or (?) Nicolaes van Assendelft, Delft (before 1692) and widow Van Assendelft, Delft (1711);
  • (?) sale, Amsterdam, 1714, possibly no. 12;
  • Lothar Franz von Schönborn, Schloß Weissenstein, Pommersfelden (c. 1714-1729);
  • Count von Schönborn sale, Paris, 17ff. May 1867, no. 78 (to Thoré-Bürger);
  • Thoré-Bürger (Etienne Joseph Théophile Thoré), Paris (1867-d.1869);
  • Paul Lacroix, Paris (1869-1884, inherited from Thoré-Bürger);
  • widow Lacroix, Paris (1884-1892);
  • Thoré-Bürger sale, Paris, 5 December 1892, no. 32 (to Sedelmeyer);
  • [Sedelmeyer, Paris, 1892-93];
  • [Lawrie & Co., London, 1893, from Sedelmeyer];
  • [T. Humphry Ward, London, 1894];
  • George Salting, London (before 1898-d.1910);
  • The National Gallery, London, Salting Bequest, 1910 (inv. 2568).

exhibitions

Woman at the Clavichord (detail)
Gerrit Dou
c. 1665
37.7 x 29.8 cm
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

In 17th-century Dutch, both virginals and clavichords were called clavecijn, clavesingel or clavecimbael, which understandably leads to confusion. The virginals portrayed in Vermeer's painting is of the muselar type. Because the keyboard is fairly high up, it was not unusual to play standing; the seated lady is not ergonomically sound, her elbows lower than her hand.

The origin of the word virginals is obscure but it is usually linked to the fact that the instrument was frequently played by young women. In the late 16th and early 17th century, muselar virginals were appreciated for their unique sound quality. They were made only in Northern Europe.

The placing of the keyboard to the right enables the playing mechanism to create a rich and full sound by plucking the strings right in the middle of their sounding length but this places the action for the left hand in the exact middle of the highly resonant soundboard. This occasionally results in inevitable clicks, faithfully amplified by the soundboard and make rapid left-hand scales somewhat problematic. In addition to mechanical noise, the central plucking point in the bass makes repetition difficult, because the motion of the still-sounding string interferes with the ability of the plectrum to connect again. A rather prejudiced 18th-century comment goes so far as to say that instruments "which have the keyboard on the right-hand side are good in the right hand, but grunt in the bass like young pigs."

Some virginals were mounted onto a self standing box like the one in the present work. Other Dutch genre painters portrayed the box-like version (see detail above) which was set on a table.

Other than two simple white jugs seen in his earlier compositions, these hand-painted baseboard tiles were the only homage Vermeer paid to the renowned Delft porcelain production. The humble tiles, which were so cheap that they sometimes served as ballast in ships sailing abroad, protected the plaster walls from the daily assault of brooms, mops and scrubbing brushes of the zealous Dutch housewife. Each tile was decorated separately with scenes of daily life including of children's games such as walking on stilts or flying kites.

The tiles in this picture are difficult to make out since the precious blue paint (made of crushed lapis lazuli imported from Afghanistan) which Vermeer used to paint them has lightened considerably. This defect can be seen in other paintings of the time and is known as ultramarine sickness. It is now believed that the fading is caused by deterioration of the binding medium and not the blue pigment itself.

Female keyboard players were a popular subject in 17th-century Dutch art. Music making was often associated with love and at times with amorous seduction. For example, in verses by Jacob Westerbaen we read: "learn to play the lute, the clavichord. The strings have the power to caress the heart." The virginal, however, had highly civilized connotations since it was often played by a woman in a family or musical gathering, thus being used most often by artists as a symbol of harmony and concord. The unattended viol da gamba in the foreground further strengthens the association with harmony. The woman, like the male musician in Jacob Cats' well-known emblem "Quid Non Sentit Amor" (see left), plays her instrument while a second lies unused. The emblem's text explains that the resonance of one lute echoes onto the other just as two hearts can exist in harmony even if they are separated.

Woman at the Clavichord (detail)
Gerrit Dou
c. 1665
37.7 x 29.8 cm
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

The remarkable similarity between this painting and Gerrit Dou's Woman at the Clavichord c. 1665 proves that Vermeer derived his composition from the work of the Leiden fijnschilder (fine painter) who was one of the most highly paid artists of the time. The pose, the pulled-back curtain, the viola da gamba and even the girls' faces share much.

This kind of artistic borrowing of successful motifs was quite common among Dutch painters who were always strained to produce enough works for the voracious art market. However, the difference in execution between the two paintings can be easily discerned. Dou spares no amount of pain to render each and every detail with the utmost fidelity while Vermeer broadly applies paint which suggests, rather than describes, form, texture and light. Vermeer improved on Dou's composition by moving the viewpoint closer to the subject which draws the observer into closer contact with the girl who has just turned her head away from her music in order to engage the viewer's attention.

Genre painters were often open to thematic collaboration with their elite patrons who compensated leading artists with considerable sums for their efforts. This painting may be an example of this practice since it fits the description of a painting by Vermeer in the art collection of Diego Duarte, an immensely rich Antwerp banker and accomplished musician and composer. It is generally accepted that the luminary and art connoisseur Constantijn Huygens was aware of the painting of Johannes Vermeer and it is also likely that he brokered the sale of the "young lady playing the clavecin, with accessories" to Duarte which was listed in the inventory of Duarte's art collection in 1682. To give some sort of idea of the stature of Duarte's collection it is enough to know that he possessed more than two hundred paintings by masters such as Holbein, Raphael, Titian, Rubens and Van Dyck.

Although Dutch music was considered rather conventional, a few musicians such as Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck composed music of quality. He is noted for his compositions for the flute, virginals and organ. It is tempting to imagine the young girl playing one of Sweelink's delightful pieces such as Malle Symen "Silly Simon."

A Lady Standing at a Virginal
Johannes Vermeer
c. 1670-1673
51.7 x 45.2 cm
National Gallery, London

Vermeer scholars have been unable to decide if this picture was intended as a pendant to the Lady Standing at a Virginal. The two pictures are almost precisely the same size; both represent a stylishly dressed young woman playing a virginal in an elegant setting. If hung side by side, the virginals would be placed back to back and the light airiness of one is complimentary to the darkness of the other. This play between complimentary values is characteristic of the Dutch pendant and Dutch painters rarely lost the chance to cleverly investigate the underlying psychological and aesthetic diversities between similar subjects. In particular, the background paintings would seem to reinforce the complimentary nature of the pair. The standing woman is accompanied by a picture of a standing Cupid drawn from a popular emblem book which encourages faithfulness in love while the seated woman rests in front of a low-life scene which alludes to illicit lovemaking.

The theme of Sacred and Profane Love would have inevitably come to mind to an educated 17th-century Dutch viewer trained to look at pictures' and images' concealed moral meanings. However, the two works differ in technique to such a degree that critics generally date the seated lady four years later than her presumed companion. We cannot rule out that they were simply variations on a same theme. In any case, destiny has it that after more than 300 years the two have once again been joined and hang side by side in the National Gallery of London.

Diego Duarte, an immensely wealthy Antwerp jeweler and banker, may have purchased this picture directly from Vermeer. We know that Duarte maintained contact with Holland through Constantijn Huygens, who, like the sculptor Johan Larson, lived in The Hague. Larson possessed a tronie by Vermeer presumably bought on a trip to Delft in 1660.

However, Duarte's ties with the picture may have to do as much with artistic affinity as friendship. Duarte's father had a clavecin made for Huygens, and Duarte corresponded with Huygens about music. He also was an accomplished organist and composer. With the musical interests it is appropriate that Duarte's Vermeer represented in his inventory number 182 "a small painting with a lady playing the clavecin, with accessories."

The picture was valued at 150 guilders, not a great sum for a picture at the time when Gerrit Dou was getting ten times that ammount for a similar-sized painting.

Almande De Symmerman [236 KB] very likely Almande The Carpenter (anon.) from The Susanne van Soldt Manuscript (1599)

Malle Symen [236 KB] "Silly Simon"
(Jan Pzn. Sweelinck) from The Leningrad Manuscript (1646)

Courante Daphne [236 KB] The popular melody Daphne as a French "Courante" dance (anon.) also from The Leningrad Manuscript (1646)

* all three music files were kindly selected and performed for the Essential Vermeer website by Joop Klaassen, contributor to the Stichting Clavecimbel Genootschap Nederland.

The virginals are a kind of harpsichord. Mr Klaassen's muselar virginals were built by Louis van Emmerik, after the Ruckers virginals of 1611 in "Het Vleeshuis," a museum in Antwerp, Belgium. The muselar virginals have the keyboard on the right, and they have a richer sound than the spinet virginals, which have the keyboard on the left. The virginals in Vermeer's paintings are of the muselar type.

For more information on Vermeer and the virginals, click here.

Solfaing Song à 5 [3.45 MB]
by Thomas Tallis
from: Ancient Instruments – Tuxedo (various artists)

The Viola da Gamba

The viol or viola da gamba has its early ancestors in medieval waisted fiddles and rebecs played like viols: with the instrument held downwards resting on the lap or between the knees and the bow held above the palm.

Iconographic evidence from the Renaissance period suggests that the viol was the result of applying the traditional Aragonese technique of rebec-playing to a new bowed instrument whose size and construction was similar to those of the vihuela de mano (a plucked instrument, similar to the guitar), so that the term "vihuela de arco" for such an instrument seems appropriate.

This bowed instrument quickly spread from Spain to Italy. The Italian instrument makers with their excellent craftsmanship developed the vihuela into the viol form, and the 'viole grande' enjoyed lasting popularity at the European courts.

The most famous viol players in the 17th century were undoubtedly Sainte-Colombe who introduced the silver-covered strings and added a seventh low string, as well as his pupil Marin Marais, who even surpassed his master Sainte-Colombe and brought the viol to its highest point of perfection, both with his outstanding virtuoso playing and with his most excellent compositions.

During its history the viol appeared in many different sizes: 'pardessus', treble, alto, small tenor, tenor, bass and violone (contrabass), but only the treble, tenor and bass viols belong to a usual consort.

The distincive shape of the viol shows characteristic down-sloping shoulders and a narrow upper body. Together with deep ribs, middle bouts, a gently arched belly but a flat back this form became fairly standard during the 17th and 18th centuries. The viol has usually six strings, but the solo bass viol played on the Continent during the Baroque period often had seven (invented by Sainte-Colombe).

The frets, made of streched gut, are tied round the neck in a special fret knot. There are usually seven frets placed at intervals of a semitone.

The early viol bow is rather convex and is held in an underhand grip which enables the player to control the bow's pressure on the strings at will.

The musicologist Marin Mersenne once considered the viol as the instrument which most perfectly imitated the human voice.

The burial records of the Oude Kerk of Delft fixes Vermeer's burial on 15 December 1675. The once prosperous painter left 10 minor children and momentous debts to his wife, Catharina. In an effort to free herself of her creditors, she lamented her lack of financial resources caused by her husband who had lapsed into "decay and decadence." Decadence may have indicated the artist had lapsed into drink, a virtual plague in the Netherlands, or perhaps just a sudden physical decline such as a stroke or a heart failure. Catharina stated that the artist had become so burdened by his economic problems that "as if he had fallen into frenzy and in a day and a half had gone from being healthy to being dead." Although there is a tomb marker of Vermeer's grave in the Oude Kerk, its original location has been lost through the centuries.

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