Johannes Vermeer, 'A Young Woman standing at a Virginal', about 1670-2

A Young Woman standing at a Virginal

Johannes Vermeer

Room 16

About the work

Overview

The young woman at the keyboard holds our eye with a direct gaze. The empty chair suggests she is expecting someone and the large painting of a naked Cupid, the god of erotic love, on the wall behind her may be a signal that she is waiting for her lover. Scenes of music making were a popular genre in seventeenth-century Holland. They were often associated with romantic encounters, sometimes obviously bawdy ones, sometimes apparently innocent. Here, the style of the Cupid painting derives from a book illustration on the theme of faithful love.

There has been much speculation that this picture and another by Vermeer, A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal (also in the National Gallery), might have been made as a pair. There are many similarities between the two, but also an apparent contrast. One may represent fidelity, the other a venal, mercenary approach to love.

In-depth

A young woman standing at a keyboard holds our eye with a direct gaze. Suffused in the light which streams through the window, she seems caught in a moment of expectation and uncertainty. Perhaps we have interrupted her playing, or perhaps she is waiting for us so that she can start. But then maybe the empty chair in the foreground is significant: perhaps she is waiting for someone else. The large painting of a naked Cupid, the god of erotic love, on the wall behind her may help us to understand the situation. It seems to be a signal that this is not just a scene of music making, but that the woman is waiting for her lover.

Vermeer made very few paintings and only about 36 survive today. Nearly all of these depict young women in calm, orderly domestic interiors, and often they are playing musical instruments, either alone or with one or more others. Such scenes were a popular genre in seventeenth-century Holland. Sometimes the theme was obviously bawdy, with tobacco and alcohol, then thought of as aphrodisiacs, featuring prominently. Sometimes they are apparently entirely innocent. More frequently, as here, the implications are left uncertain.

In most of Vermeer’s paintings, he seems to invite us to question the virtue or diligence of the women concerned, but then rarely gives us enough clues to help us come to a firm conclusion. This unresolved tension was probably part of the appeal of his pictures to his clients – perhaps because they reflected the undercurrents of real life. Musical gatherings were popular, respectable social activities. But they were also a good way for young people to meet, so there was always potential for flirtation, or for philandering.

If we can’t be certain about what is on the woman’s mind, the painting does tell us a good deal about her social status. She is dressed in fine silks and a pearl-studded necklace, and she is clearly in the living room of a prosperous Dutch home – it has pictures on the wall, a marble-tiled floor and a skirting of local Delft tiles. The instrument she is playing is a muselar (a type of virginal or harpsichord) and it’s an expensive one: the landscape painted on the lid is a luxurious addition that could easily double the cost of such instruments. Though not depicted in precise detail, both this painting and the small landscape on the wall resemble works by Vermeer’s Delft-based contemporary Pieter Groenewegen.

The picture of Cupid seems to be in the style of Cesar van Everdingen who worked in Haarlem and Alkmaar (north of Amsterdam). A similar version of it appears in the background of two other paintings by Vermeer (Woman Reading a Letter at an Open Window in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden; Girl Interrupted at her Music in the Frick Collection, New York) and it may be the painting recorded in the possession of Vermeer’s widow in 1676, hanging in the room next to his studio. The image is derived from an emblem book of 1608 by Otto van Veen, which showed a series of pictures of Cupid enacting different mottoes about love. They were based on quotations from poetry and philosophy. The motto for the Cupid holding up a tablet or card like this one was ‘a lover ought to love only one’. Whether this might signal a warning or a commendation is impossible to know.

Another painting by Vermeer, A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, may throw further light onto the significance of this motto. There has been much speculation that the two paintings might be a pair. They are almost exactly the same size, and both appear to have been made at about the same time, dating on grounds of style to 1670–1672, which was at the very end of Vermeer’s career. They each show a lone young woman – one seated, one standing – playing a keyboard, looking directly out at the viewer. What is more, one woman faces to the left and the other to the right, so they would hang together well as pendants. The shared colour scheme – the same predominately blue and yellow palette with unusually extensive use of the extremely expensive blue pigment, ultramarine – also suggests they might belong together.

As a pendant pair it is tempting to believe that they also represent a contrasting narrative. A Young Woman Standing would represent a virtuous, faithful lover, a sentiment reflected in the composition and lighting. The picture is flooded with sunshine and the perspective is direct and open, with clear, balanced vertical and horizontal lines. By contrast, A Young Woman Seated could be understood to represent venal or mercenary love. She is shown at night behind a drawn-back curtain, a picture of a brothel-keeper on the wall behind. She is also depicted from a much more oblique angle, tucked into a shadowy corner. Such interpretations are highly speculative and we can’t be sure that this contrast was intended. Opponents to the theory point out that the two paintings seem to have had quite different histories before the nineteenth century. However, this does not rule out the possibility that Vermeer designed them as a pair but ended up selling them separately, or that a very early owner sold them separately as individual works.

Whatever the truth of the matter, it isn’t only his ability to conjure up intriguing narrative uncertainties that makes Vermeer’s pictures stand out among all the painters of the Dutch Golden Age. He was also brilliant at capturing the subtle effects of light – how it reflects off different objects and surfaces and how it creates shadows of subtly different intensities. In this picture, we can sense the textures, the nap and the sheen of the woman’s silk and satin dress. At floor level the light on the grey-veined marble and white-and-blue Delft tiles seems somehow colder, while the gilt picture frame glows in the sunshine.

Want to find out more?

Delve deeper and explore the catalogue entry for this work.

Audio description

4 min 24 sec
Listen to an audio description of Vermeer’s 'A Young Woman standing at a Virginal'

Transcript

This is a description of a detailed oil painting called A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. The work is small, about half a meter square, and was created between 1670 and 1672. The image features a well-dressed young woman in a nicely decorated room. She’s standing at a virginal: a musical instrument that resembles a piano, or harpsichord. The woman takes center stage in the painting, her graceful posture commanding our attention. She stands facing her instrument which is on the right, her delicate hands resting on the keys in front of her, while her head turns toward us with a modest smile. She has a pale, rounded face and dark brown eyes that gaze directly at the viewer. She wears a bell-shaped, floor-length skirt made of pale-yellow silk, with each fold carefully delineated, capturing the way light and shadow play upon the delicate material. Her top made of blue taffeta is richly decorated with reddish pink ribbons and pearls. Billowing white sleeves complete her ensemble, leaving her forearms exposed. Her hair is worn in the style of the time, tucked up into a small red and grey bonnet at the back, her blond curls and forehead partly covered by a lace veil. She wears a pearl necklace. The room she is standing in is painted white and has a bright, airy feel. The image is cropped, revealing part of the rear wall and a glimpse of the wall on the far left. This wall has several large, lead-paned windows in it, letting soft light flood the painting. The floor is paved in bold dark blue and white tiles: the darker tiles forming cross shapes. The floor is enclosed by a row of white delft tiles featuring intricate patterns where a skirting board would typically be. Hanging on the rear wall there are two paintings. On the left is a small, traditional landscape rendered in green, blue, and white tones. It has a gilded frame that reflects the light, outshining the picture inside it. To the right is a much larger painting in a dark, matte wooden frame. This painting is intentionally symbolic: it depicts a naked baby, with blond hair, and wings. This is Cupid, God of love, holding a bow in his right hand and a playing card in his left. The card is raised above his head as if trying to catch our attention. The card contains the motto: ’Only one’. In the foreground, on the right, the wooden lid of the virginal is open, revealing a painted landscape beneath a blue, cloudy sky. Positioned nearby is a simple wooden-framed chair, slightly angled away from us and ready for someone to sit and listen to the music. The chair is covered in rich dark blue velvet with golden studs, shimmering in the light streaming from the window. What distinguishes Vermeer's work from that of his contemporaries is his mastery of light. With it, he creates an atmosphere that enhances the narrative within the painting. This is beautifully demonstrated here: not only with the clarity of daylight streaming in through the window, but also in Vermeer’s skill in the subtle effects of light on objects in the room. This interplay reveals volume, casts delicate shadows, and defines the spatial relationships. The fine silks, glistening pearls, the golden frame, the opulent velvet upholstery indicate the young woman's affluence. Symbolic hints, such as Cupid's motto, the vacant chair, and her inviting smile, suggest she anticipates a particular kind of love—idealised and virtuous. As visitors to this scene, we stand just outside the frame, invited into her world.

Key facts

Details

Full title: A Young Woman standing at a Virginal
Artist: Johannes Vermeer
Artist dates: 1632 - 1675
Date made: about 1670-2
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 51.7 × 45.2 cm
Inscription summary: Signed
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1892
Inventory number: NG1383
Location: Room 16
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 17th-century Dutch Frame

Provenance

No. 1383 may be identifiable with the ‘Young lady playing on the virginal’ by Vermeer in the collection of Diego Duarte, Antwerp, 1682, or that in an Anon. sale [possibly the collection of Jacobus Abrahamsz. Dissius of Delft (d. October 1695)], Amsterdam, 16 May 1696 (lot 37), 42 guilders, or the ‘Woman virginal player in a room’ in an Anon. sale, Amsterdam, 11 July 1714 (lot 12), 55 guilders, but any of these might equally well be the Young Woman seated at a Virginal (No. 2568). No. 1383 is presumably the ‘Young lady standing before a virginal to play, with pictures on the wall’ in the Jan Danser Nijman sale, Amsterdam, 16–17 August 1797 (lot 169), bought by Berg (19 or 49 guilders). It is said to have been in the collection of Edward Solly, London; it was not traceable in any of the many Solly sales. It was certainly in the Edward William Lake sale, London, 11–12 July 1845 (lot 5), bought by Farrer (15 gns) and the [J. P. Thom] sale, London, 2 May 1855 (lot 22), bought by Grey (14½ gns). By 1866 it was in the collection of Etienne-Joseph-Théophile Thoré (pseudonym: ‘W. Bürger’), Paris, by whom it was lent to exhibitions in Paris (1866) and in Amsterdam (1867). Thoré died in 1869 and the picture passed with a large part of his collection to the Lacroix family, Paris; it was in the ‘Thoré-Bürger’ collection sale, Paris, 5 December 1892 (lot 30), 29,000 francs, bought by Lawrie & Co. of London, from whom it was purchased in the same month.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2012

Vermeer: the golden century of Dutch art

Scuderie del Quirinale

27 September 2012 - 20 January 2013
2013

Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure

The National Gallery (London)

26 June 2013 - 8 September 2013
2021

Johannes Vermeer. On Reflection

Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Dresden)

10 September 2021 - 2 January 2022
2023

Vermeer

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

9 February 2023 - 4 June 2023
2024

National Treasures

National Galleries of Scotland

10 May 2024 - 8 September 2024

Bibliography

1821

C. Josi, Collection d'imitations de dessins d'après les principaux maîtres hollandais et flamands, London 1821
1866

E. Thoré-Bürger, 'Van der Meer de Delft', Gazette des beaux-arts, II, 1866
1888

H. Havard, Van der Meer de Delft, Paris 1888
1892

C. Hofstede de Groot, 'De veiling Bürger-Thoré', De Nederlandsche Spectator, 1892
1893

C. Hofstede de Groot, 'Paris, Hôtel Drouot. Die Auction Thoré-Bürger', Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, 1893, pp. 118-9
1898

M. Rooses, 'De Hollandsche Meesters in de National Gallery te London. Jan Vermeer van Delft. Het vrouwtje bij het klavier', Elseviers Geïllustreerd Maandschrift, XV, 1898, pp. 352-60
1907

C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
1907

C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
1911

E. Plietzsch, Vermeer Van Delft, Leipzig 1911
1911

P. Alfassa, 'Les Vermeers de la Galerie Nationale de Londres', Revue de l'art ancien et moderne, XXX, 1911, pp. 401-8
1928

G. Delbanco, Der Maler Abraham Bloemaert (1564-1651), Strasbourg 1928
1936

V. Bloch, 'Pro Caesar Boetius van Everdingen', Oud Holland, 1936
1937

P.L. Hale, Vermeer, eds F.W. Coburn and R.T. Hale, London 1937
1938

A. Heppner, 'Thoré-Bürger en Holland', Oud Holland, 1938
1939

A.B. de Vries, Jan Vermeer van Delft, Amsterdam 1939
1946

A. Blum, Vermeer et Thoré-Bürger, Geneva 1946
1948

S. Sulzberger, 'Ajoute à la bibliographie de Vermeer de Delft', Kunsthistorische Mededelingen, III/2, 1948
1950

P.T. Swillens, Johannes Vermeer Painter of Delft: 1632-1675, Utrecht 1950
1958

L. Goldscheider, Jan Vermeer: The Paintings: Complete Edition, London 1958
1960

Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
1960

W. Stechow, 'Landscape Paintings in Dutch Seventeenth Century Interiors', Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, XI, 1960, pp. 165-84
1967

E. de Jongh, Zinne- en minnebeelden in de schilderkunst van de zeventiende eeuw, Amsterdam 1967
1967

F. Hermann, 'Who Was Solly? Part 2: The Collector and His Collection', The Connoisseur, 1967
1978

A. Blankert, Johann Vermeer van Delft 1632-1675, English edn, Oxford 1978
1981

L.J. Slatkes, Vermeer and His Contemporaries, New York 1981
1981

A.K. Wheelock, Jan Vermeer, New York 1981
1986

G. Aillaud, A. Blankert and J.M. Montias, Vermeer, Paris 1986
1986

J. Edwards, 'La curieuse histoire de l'Astronome de Vermeer et de son "pendant" aux XVIIIe siècle', Revue du Louvre, 1986
1989

J.M. Montias, Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History, Princeton 1989
1989

J.M. Massing, 'Elegant Resolutions', Times Literary Supplement, 1989
1991

Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
1991

J.M. Nash, Vermeer, London 1991
1993

E. de Jongh, 'Die "Sprachlichkeit" der Niederländischen Malerei im 17. Jahrhundert', in Leselust. Niederländischen Malerei von Rembrandt bis Vermeer, Frankfurt 1993, pp. 23-34
1994

D. Arasse, Vermeer: Faith in Painting, Princeton 1994
1994

G.J.M. Weber, 'Johannes Vermeer, Pieter Jansz. van Asch und das Problem der Abbildungstreue', Oud Holland, CVIII/2, 1994, pp. 97-106
1994

G.J.M. Weber, '"Om te bevestige[n], aen-te-raden, verbreeden ende vercieren": Rhetorische Exempellehre und die Struktur des "Bildes im Bild"', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, LV, 1994, pp. 287-314
1995

A.K. Wheelock, Vermeer and the Art of Painting, New Haven 1995
1995

A.K. Wheelock and B.P.J. Broos, Johannes Vermeer (exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 12 November 1995 - 11 February 1996; Mauritshuis, 5 March - 9 June 1996), New Haven 1995
1995

F.S. Jowell, 'Thoré-Bürger and Vermeer: Critical and Commercial Fortunes', in C.P. Schneider, W.W. Robinson and A.I. Davies (eds), Shop Talk. Studies in Honour of Seymour Slive, Cambridge MA 1995, pp. 124-7
1996

R. Manwaring Baines, 'Jan Vermeer of Delft', Leisure Painter, 1996, pp. 45-7
1996

M.A. Castor, 'Augenblick und Zeitfluß. Bermerkungen zu einigen Konstanten in der Malerei Jan Vermeers', Pantheon, 1996, pp. 84-101
1996

F.S. Jowell, 'Thoré-Bürger: A Critical Role in the Art Market', The Burlington Magazine, CXXXVIII/1115, 1996, pp. 115-29
1996

E. Buijsen, 'Music in the Age of Vermeer', in Dutch Society in the Age of Vermeer, Zwolle 1996, pp. 106-23
1997

L. Gowing, Vermeer, London 1997
2000

W.-J. Hoogsteder, 'Schilderij op Johannes Vermeer ontdekt', Hoogsteder Journal, 7, 2000, pp. 10-9
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2001

R. Baarsen et al., Vermeer and the Delft School, New Haven 2001

Frame

This is a seventeenth-century Dutch ripple frame, crafted from ebony veneer. The back moulding of the box frame is adorned with a ripple moulding, followed by a scotia and a narrower ripple moulding. It has a bold zigzag ripple on the frieze, ending with a ripple moulding at the sight edge.

In 2002 a large box frame was used to make smaller frames for two paintings by Vermeer, A Young Woman standing at a Virginal and A Young Woman seated at a Virginal. Both original and replica metal corner coverings feature on the outside of the frames.

Within the painting of A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, there are two framed paintings depicted, giving us a record of contemporary taste in frames: a gold ornate frame for a landscape and a simple ebony frame for the depiction of Cupid.

About this record

If you know more about this work or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images

Insights

A look at paintings that depict interiors and people at home, presented by Francesca Whitlum-Cooper, the Myojin-Nadar Associate Curator of Paintings, 1600–1800, at the National Gallery, London.

This is a YouTube video player. Below the video are the title and the view time.

A curated look at: working from home | National Gallery

View time: 17:20

You can't see this YouTube video because you haven't accepted marketing cookies. Please adjust your cookie preferences or watch the video on YouTube.

National Gallery Imaginarium

Spark your imagination in a virtual space to interact with our paintings.

More works by Johannes Vermeer

A Young Woman seated at a Virginal

Johannes Vermeer

It appears to be dark outside this elegant room: a blue curtain covers the top part of the window, but the glass below it is black. The light which glints in the heavily dilated pupils of the woman seated at the keyboard comes from in front of the painting, an unusual effect for Vermeer.Significa...

Room 16