Vermeer's Signatures
Of the 35 (36?) paintings that are generally accepted as by Johannes Vermeer, 21 bear legible signatures (the one on Diana and Her Companions has worn away—see below) . Three historical documents conserve the artist's full signature; one is also signed by the artist's wife, Catharina Bolnes
The signatures of Johannes Vermeer and his wife Catharina Bolnes (left) on a deed of 30 November 1655—two years after their marriage—constitute one the few physical, and we might add, touching testimonies of the couple's union which bore Vermeer fifteen children in all. Even if one does not agree that handwriting tells us something of the writer's character, it is difficult to ignore the striking difference between the two scripts. The measured uprightness of Vermeer's calligraphy contrasts with the sensual freedom of his wife's. Click here to access a study of 10 archival documents related to the life of Vermeer.
Thoré-Bürger
notes:
1. Each visible signature is represented by a black and white facsimile and when available, a high-resolution digital image.
2. In 1866, Thoré-Bürger, who can rightly be considered the rediscoverer of Vermeer, published a catalogue of the works he had been able to find after years of travel and patient investigative work. Thoré correctly identified 22 authentic works by Vermeer (some of which he had not seen) and about 40 other works which are no longer attributed to the artist, mostly landscapes. In the far-right column are reported the number of Thoré's catalogue. Thoré did not order his catalogue by chronology (the paintings are grouped by subject matter) but noted artist's signature when present. He noted signatures on the Milkmaid and on the Woman Holding a Balance, neither of which are visible today. Moreover, while he reports a signature on the cupboard of the Geographer still visible today, he makes no mention of the conspicuous second signature and date in Roman numerals on the wall above the framed map.
3. Recent laboratory analysis reveals a the vestiges of date inscribed in Roman numerals along side the signature in Vermeer's Art of Painting which has been made out to be 1667.
TITLE |
Facsimile |
Photographic image |
Description |
Thoré-Bürger's cat. no., facsimiles & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAINT PRAXEDIS 1655 oil on canvas 40 x 32 1/2 in. (101.6 x 82.6 cm.) Barbara Piasecka, The Johnson Collection Foundation, whereabouts unknown |
According to Arthur Wheelock, the painting is signed and dated 1655 in the lower left, and it also carries an additional inscription in the lower right corner: Meer N ... R ... o... o, which he interprets as Meer N[aar] R[ip]o[s]o (Vermeer after Riposo), the latter being Ficherelli's nickname. Jørgen Wadum holds that the readable signature "Meer 1655" is "apocryphal" and the o inscription blow is "so rudimentary that any interpretation would be factitious." |
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DIANA AND HER COMPANIONS |
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This painting's signature is no longer visible after overzealous restorations although it was still reproduced in the 1859 catalogue of the Mauritshuis. | ||
| CHRIST IN THE HOUSE OF MARY AND MARTHA c. 1654-1656 63 x 53 7/8 in. (160 x 142 cm.) National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh |
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Inscribed lower left, on bench: IVMeer (IVM in ligature). | |
| THE PROCURESS 1656 56 1/2 x 51 1/8 in. (143 x 130 cm.) Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden |
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Signed and dated lower right 1656. | no.1
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| A MAID ASLEEP c. 1656-57 34 1/2 x 30 1/8 in. (87.6 x 76.5 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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Singed at left, above the figure's head: I.VMeer: (VM in monogram) . | |
| A GIRL READING A LETTER BY AN OPEN WINDOW c. 1657-1659 32 1/4 x 25 3/8 in. (83 x 64.5 cm.) Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden |
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Signed lower right (to the right of the woman's skirt): J Meer [fragmentary]. | no.31 |
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The Little Street |
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Inscribed below window at left: i VMeer (VM in ligature). | no.49
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Officer and Laughing Girl |
No signature or date appears on this work. | no.7 | ||
The Milkmaid |
No signature or date appears on this work. | no.25 "La signature est à peu près:"
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The Glass of Wine |
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Signed left on window. | no.20 |
| The Girl with a Glass of Wine c. 1659-1660 30 3/4 x 26 3/8 in. (78 x 67 cm.) Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig (Brunswick) |
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inscribed lower right window pane: IVMeer (VM in ligature) | no.6
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| Girl Interrupted in Her Music c. 1658-1661 oil on canvas 15 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. (39.4 x 44.5 cm) The Frick Collection, New York |
No signature appears on this work. | no.9 | ||
| View of Delft c. 1660-1661 38 3/4 x 46 1/4 in. (98.5 x 117.5 cm.) Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Mauritshuis Mauritshuis, The Hague |
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signed lower left on the boat: IVM (in monogram) | no.48
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| The Music Lesson c. 1662-1664 28 7/8 x 25 3/8 in. (73.3 x 64.5 cm.) The Royal Collection, Buckingham Palace |
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Signed lower picture frame at right above the white jug IVMeer (IVM in monogram). | ||
| Woman in Blue Reading a Letter c. 1662-1665 18 1/4 x 15 3/8 in. (46.5 x 39 cm.) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
No signature or date appears on this work. | no.32 | ||
| Woman Holding a Balance 16 3/4 x 15 in. (42.5 x 38 cm.) The National Gallery, Washington D. C. |
No signature or date appears on this work. | no.27 "...est signé en toutes lettres, dans la forme habituelle à Vermeer." |
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| Young Woman with a Water Pitcher c. 1664-1665 oil on canvas 18 x 16 in. (45.7 x 40.6 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
No signature or date appears on this work. | |||
| Woman with a Lute c. 1662-1664 20 1/4 x 18 in. (51.4 x 45.7 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
No signature or date appears on this work. Goldschieder reported a signature "on the wall, beneath the table cloth." (1958) Although he believes the painting is not by Vermeer, Albert Blankert wrote it is " vaguely signed on the wall below the table cloth." (1978) |
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| Woman with a Pearl Necklace c. 1664 21 5/8 x 17 3/4 in. (55 x 45 cm.) Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin |
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Inscribed on tabletop: (IVM in ligature). ` | no.33
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| A Lady Writing c. 1665-1666 17 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. (45 x 39.9 cm.) The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. |
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Inscribed center left on frame of picture on back wall: IVMEER (IVM in ligature). | no.40 | |
| Girl with a Red Hat c. 1665-1667 9 1/8 x 7 1/8 in. (23.2 x 18.1 cm.) The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Andrew W. Mellon Collection |
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Inscribed upper-left center; (IVM in Ligature) | no.47 |
| Girl with a Flute c. 1665-1670 7 7/8 x 7 in. (20 x 17.8 cm.) National Gallery, Washington D.C. |
No signature or date appears on this work. | |||
| The Girl with a Pearl Earring c. 1665-1667 18 1/4 x 15 3/4 in. (46.5 x 40 cm.) Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Mauritshuis, The Hague |
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Inscribed top left corner IVMeer (IVM in ligature). | |
| The Concert c. 1663-1666 28 1/2 x 25 1/2 in. (72.5 x 64.7) Isabella Gardner Museum, Boston (stolen) |
No signature or date appears on this work. | no.23 | ||
| The Art of Painting c. 1666- 1668 47 1/4 x 39 3/8 in. (120 X 100 cm.) Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
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Signed on the map, behind Clio's collar: IVerMeer. | no.5
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| Study of a Young Woman c. 1665–1667 17 1/2 x 15 3/4 in. (44.5 x 40 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, in memory of Theodore Rousseau Jr. |
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Signed upper left: IVMeer [IVM in monogram]. | no.2
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| Maid and Mistress c. 1666-1667 oil on canvas 35 1/2 x 31 in. (90.2 x 78.7 cm.) The Frick Collection, New York |
No signature or date appears on this work. | no.8 | ||
| The Astronomer 1668 oil on canvas 19 3/8 x 17 3/4 in. (50 x 45 cm.) Musée du Louvre, Paris |
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Signed on cabinet: IVMeer / MDCLXVIII [IVM in monogram]. | no.36 | |
| The Geographer c. 1668-1669 oil on canvas 20 7/8 x 18 1/4 in. (53 x 46.6 cm.) Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main |
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There are two signatures on the Geographer. Scholars once believed that the conspicuous signature on the background wall (with the date in Roman numerals) was not original even though the date, MDCLXVIIII (1669) was compatible with the date most Vermeer experts have ascribed to the painting. Recent restoration have demonstrated that both are original. |
no.34 Thoré noted a signature on the cupboard but makes no mention of the signature and date in Roman numerals on the wall above the framed map.
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| The Lacemaker c.1669-1671 oil on canvas 9 5/8 x 8 1/4 in. (24.5 x 21 cm.) Musée du Louvre, Paris |
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Inscribed upper-left on the gray wall: IVMeer (IVM in ligature). | no.37
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| The Love Letter c. 1667-1670 oil on canvas 17 3/8 x 15 1/8 in. (44 x 38.5.cm) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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Inscribed above the basket:(IVM in ligature). | |
| The Guitar Player c. 1670-72 oil on canvas 20 1/4 x 18 1/4 in. (53 x 46.3 cm.) Kenwood, English Heritage as Trustees of the Iveagh Bequest |
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Signed right on the lower side of the curtain. | |
| Lady Writing with Her Maid c. 1670-1671 oil on canvas 28 x 23 in. (71.1 x 58.4 cm.) National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin |
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Signed on the table, under the hand of the writing lady. | ||
| Allegory of Faith c. 1670- 1674 oil on canvas 54 x 35 in. (114.3 x 88.9 cm.) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Bequest of Michael Friedsam |
No signature or date appears on this work. | no.41 | ||
| A Lady Standing at a Virginal c. 1670-1673 oil on canvas 20 3/8 x 17 1/4 in. (51.7 x 45.2 cm.) National Gallery, London |
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Inscribed at left below the upper edge of the virginal: IVMeer (IVM in ligature). | no.29
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| A Lady Seated at a Virginal 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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Inscribed at left below the upper edge of the virginal: IVMeer (IVM in ligature). | no.30
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| Young Woman Seated at a Virginal (attributed to Johannes Vermeer) c. 1670-1672 oil on canvas 9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. (25.2 x 20 cm.) Private Collection , New York |
No signature or date appears on this work. |
