The Dissus Sale of 1696

The description of the painting is unanimously believed to correspond to the Woman Holding a Balance in the National Gallery. Although we know nothing of the box in which the painting was kept, we do know that in the inventory of Jacob Dissius' house were three "Vermeer's in boxes" in the front room. Particularly precious paintings may have been protected from dust in such a manner. Curtains were commonly used for the same reasons and were often represented in Dutch interior paintings (below).

Another supposition¹ is that the painting was originally a piece of a so-called peep-box or  peep-show² a device which served to create the most complete sense of visual illusion as possible. Fabritius, Vermeer's contemporary and fellow Delft painter, was known to have constructed such a device. A peep-box by Samuel van Hoogstraten is conserved in near perfect state in the London National Gallery.

In any case, the painting fetched a very high price considering its dimensions. The buyer was Isaac Rooleeuw, a Mennonite merchant and painter, (c. 1650-1710 ) who also purchased The Milkmaid now in the Rijksmuseum. Rooleeuw must have known very well exactly which Vermeer's he wished to acquire seeing that he was willing to pay such disproportionate prices for the pair. This is the only painting by Vermeer which can be traced in an unbroken line from the seventeenth-century.