A Girl Asleep
A Girl Asleep | |
---|---|
Artist | Johannes Vermeer |
Year | c. 1657 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 87.6 cm × 76.5 cm (34.5 in × 30.1 in) |
Location | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
A Girl Asleep (Dutch: Slapend meisje), also known as A Woman Asleep, A Woman Asleep at Table, and A Maid Asleep,[1] is a painting by the Dutch master Johannes Vermeer, created c. 1657.[2] It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and may not be lent elsewhere under the terms of the donor's bequest.[1]
Theme, influences and composition changes
Technical examination of the painting revealed a man in the second room and a dog looking at him. [3] According to Liedtke, the presence of the dog would have alluded to "the sort of impromptu relationships canine suitors strike up on the street." The man and the dog were replaced with a mirror on a far wall, suggesting how the experience of the senses quickly passes, and a chair left at an angle with a pillow on it, possibly signifying indolence, together with a hint of recent company. The idea that she was recently together with someone is reinforced by the wine pitcher, the glass on its side and the possible presence of a knife and fork on the table. The Chinese bowl with fruit is a symbol of temptation, and for a Vermeer contemporary familiar with the symbolism of Dutch art of the time, the knife and jug lying open-mouthed under a gauzy material would have brought to mind more than social intercourse.[1]
The painting was very likely owned by Vermeer's patron,
Provenance and exhibitions
The painting was among the large collection of Vermeer works sold on May 16, 1696, from the estate of
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Liedtke, Walter, with Michael C. Plomp and Axel Rüger, Vermeer and the Delft School, pp 369-371; New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001 (catalogue of an exhibition of the same name New York, March 8-May 27, 2001, and at the National Gallery, London, June 20 – September 16, 2001)
- ^ Benjamin Binstock Vermeer's Family Secrets: Genius, Discovery, and the Unknown Apprentice 1136087060 2013 p.117 "Vermeer's Girl Asleep, likely from 1656, portrays a young woman seated at a table with her eyes closed, in the .. "
- ISBN 978-90-5544-742-8.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-87099-973-4.
External links
- Metropolitan Museum of Art webpage on A Girl Asleep.
- The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer, exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on A Girl Asleep (see index)