Technical Description
The Allegory of Faith
The support is a fine plain-weave linen with a thread count of 14.5 x 12 cm ². and has been wax/resin lined. The original tacking edges are present.
The light brown ground contains chalk, lead-white and umber.
Underdrawing lines, which appear to be in black chalk, are visible between the floor tiles and the line separating the ceiling from the wall.
The paint has been thinly a smoothly applied, though some impasto in the curtains and in the blue areas is apparent. Areas of the curtain were painted wet-in-wet as were some of the flesh tones. The vanishing point of the painting is visible as a small depression in the paint layer.
* Johannes Vermeer (exh. cat., National Gallery of Art and Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis - Washington and the Hague, 1995, edited by Arthur Wheelock)
signature:
no signature appears on this painting