Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, (around 1657-59), 2021*

What does a discovery in art history mean in your every day life? Not much. I am unsure of the real impact. Most likely it is an unmeasurable and unquantifiable paradigm shift in your brain. I am not here to convince you that art history matters or maybe I am? I am still unsure why I keep writing these reflections and sharing them publicly. But, I know something about pausing and focusing on one piece of art feels important to me. It is becoming a vital ritual (and maybe you reading), like prayer for some or exercise for others. On my most recent trip to The Met in June, I told my friend to stop and look at Vermeer’s Young Woman with a Water Pitcher (ca. 1662) as part of the exhibition, “In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met.” He shrugged and asked what the big deal was about the painting. It is a simple picture, an accurate painting of a young woman executing a daily task. We were standing in front of one of 36 oil paintings by Vermeer which have survived. And all I could muster was, “it’s a Vermeer!” in my typical art museum enthusiasm. It is important because I was told it was important. I have been alone with The Girl with a Pearl Earring and recognize the power of a masterpiece. There is something special about standing in front of an object that is famous for simply existing. Yet, there is a power in the painting on the canvas itself. I continued to wax philosophical to my friend about the wildly radical approach Vermeer used at painting a young women inside, the interior of the home, and how these are private moments. I think about Vermeer’s own conversion to Catholicism and how it played a defining role in his family life, provided subject matter early in his career, and secured him at least one large-scale religious painting commission. Even in his secular works, he managed to incorporate his faith by imbuing his genre paintings with a solemn, contemplative mood. Yet, I can’t help but think about all the moments we now share about our daily life via social media. I think about all the material about our personal lives that is out there for the public’s consumption. Vermeer painted these private moments in the 17the century and it was radical. There has been a recent discovery that changes how we see the painter, and his possible motives as an artist in the above painting. Until recently for over 300 years, Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window was thought to be a young woman was reading a letter from the outside. It was a reserved and private moment. Who is the letter from? A suitor? A lover? A family member? In the primary Calvinist society of the Netherlands, the narrative of this painting has mostly been a reflection of piety and the quiet interior. Until now. Cupid has reveled himself. Historians and conservators have know cupid has been lurking in the shadows since 1979. The conservators had determined the paint did not match the same time period as Vermeer and could not have been the artist himself that painted over as referenced in The Art Newspaper article. What does this all mean exactly? I think what strikes me is the timeline for our understanding of the image. For over 250 years, we revered this image for its general piety. And then over the course of a generation, the meaning of the picture has changed. Vermeer is painting a tender reading of a love letter, though scandalous by 17th century Dutch standards. Cupid (Cupid is the son of Venus and the god of Love; in Latin he is called Amor, and in Greek, Eros) implies an illicit romance of this young woman. And if you look right beneath the young woman, a bowl of fruit is over flowing. Possibly foreshadowing events to come? Some say it is a serious moral warning, as Vermeer used Cupid quite often in his pictures. This picture is different now. Vermeer catapulted himself into relevance with the help of infrared technology. Who are the artists treating those we shun from society with such intention, care, and time as Vermeer has done with his subject here? Do we have artists teaching us morality? Is art as activism the same or a watered down version? Or maybe the artist that painted over Cupid was adjusting the painting for a more secular society. The society couldn’t take it, so the painter decided to ‘cancel’ Vermeer? Who needs or wants moral warnings anymore? Was this Church propaganda? Will art historical writing ever reach the relevance of Vermeer’s paintings? Probably not. Ultimately, I think art history provides us with many more mysteries, more questions, than answers. But, what would we do without mystery? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gregorymeander.substack.com