Woman Holding a Balance

c. 1664

Johannes Vermeer

Artist, Dutch, 1632 - 1675

In this vertical painting, a woman stands near the corner of a dimly lit room, facing our left in profile and looking down at a balance she holds suspended in her right hand over a wooden table. She wears a peacock-blue velvet jacket with a white hood and fur lining, and a voluminous, mustard-yellow skirt. A window near the upper left corner is partially covered by a canary-yellow curtain. Light coming in through that window falls on the pale skin of the woman's face and hands, and highlights the white trim of her garment. Her left hand, closer to us, rests on the edge of the table near two open boxes, and a blue cloth is bunched at the back of the table to our left. Gold chains and pearl strands drape over the edge of one box. The woman stands in front of a framed painting. Much of the detail is lost in shadow but at the top center of the painting, a person surrounded by a golden halo floats in the sky with both arms raised, and is flanked by people encased within a bank of clouds. Nude people on the ground below in the painting, seen to either side of the woman, writhe, twist, and point upward.

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Woman Holding a Balance is a superb example of Johannes Vermeer’s exquisite sense of stability and rhythm. A woman dressed in a blue jacket with fur trim stands serenely at a table in a corner of a room. The scales in her right hand are at equilibrium, suggestive of her inner state of mind. A large painting of the Last Judgment, framed in black, hangs on the back wall of the room. A shimmering blue cloth, open boxes, two strands of pearls, and a gold chain lie on the sturdy table. Soft light comes in through the window and illuminates the scene. The woman is so pensive that the viewer almost hesitates to intrude on her quiet moment of contemplation.

The visual juxtaposition of the woman and the Last Judgment is reinforced by thematic parallels: to judge is to weigh. This scene has religious implications that seem related to Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s instructions, in his Spiritual Exercises, that the faithful, prior to meditating, first examine their conscience and weigh their sins as if facing Judgment Day. Only such introspection could lead to virtuous choices along the path of life. Woman Holding a Balance thus allegorically urges us to conduct our lives with temperance and moderation. The woman is poised between the earthly treasures of gold and pearls and a visual reminder of the eternal consequences of her actions.

Vermeer emphasized this message through his superbly refined composition and lighting. The hand holding the balance, for example, occupies a position directly in front of the frame’s dark corner, while the scales are set off against the bare plaster wall—an effect that Vermeer created through subtle spatial manipulation. Note, for instance, that the bottom of the Last Judgment’s frame is slightly higher to the left of the woman than it is behind her back, creating room for the balance.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 50-A

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    painted surface: 39.7 x 35.5 cm (15 5/8 x 14 in.)
    stretcher size: 42.5 x 38 cm (16 3/4 x 14 15/16 in.)
    framed: 62.9 x 58.4 x 7.6 cm (24 3/4 x 23 x 3 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.97

More About this Artwork

Shown from about the knees up, a pale, smooth-skinned woman in a fur-lined yellow jacket looks out at us as she sits writing at a table in this vertical painting. The woman’s body faces the table to our left. She turns her head to gaze at us from the corners of her dark gray eyes under faint brows. She has a wide nose, and her pale lips are closed. Her light brown hair is pulled back and held in place with white bows, and gleaming teardrop-shaped pearl earrings dangle from her ears. Her lemon-yellow jacket is trimmed with ermine fur, which is white with black speckles, at the cuffs and down the front opening. A full, elephant-gray skirt falls to the floor beneath the jacket. Both hands rest on the table, and she holds a quill in her right hand, farther from us, on a piece of paper. She leans forward in her wooden chair. The back panel of the chair is covered in black fabric and lined with brass studs. Two gilded finials, carved into lions’ heads, face the woman’s back with mouths open. The table is covered with a celestial-blue cloth crumpled near the left edge of the canvas. On the table are a strand of pearls, a pale yellow ribbon, and a black box with three brown panels studded with pearls around silver keyholes. Two pewter gray vessels are visible just beyond it, in front of a second chair, which faces us. On the putty-gray wall behind the woman, a framed painting hangs in the upper left quadrant of the composition. The painting-within-the painting is done in muted tones of brown and shows a cello and other unidentifiable objects.

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This horizontal painting shows a group of eight light-skinned musicians and onlookers gathered closely around a rectangular, carpet-covered table. The front edge of the table runs parallel to the bottom edge of the painting, and seems close to us. Shown from about the waist up, the men and women’s vivid lapis-blue, coral-red, buttercup-yellow, lilac-purple, and moss-green garments fall in crisp folds. Bright reflections on the fabric suggest a satin-like material. Two women wear feathers in their hair and one man’s hat is plumed. One man, wearing crimson red and black, sits with his back to us to our left on the near side of the table. He holds the neck of a bass viol, about the size of a cello, with his left hand, and points to pages of an open music book with the bow in his right hand. The other people cluster on the far side of the table. A man to the left plays a violin; a woman at the center plays a guitar-sized bandora, and a woman to our right plays a lute. The musicians, along with a man who leans over the table from between the two women, look down at the music books. A young man behind the woman at the center holds up a glass of pale liquid with his right hand as he touches his left forefinger to his smiling lips. A man and woman stand close together in the background to our right, in the top right corner of the canvas.

Scholarly Series:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Possibly Pieter Claesz van Ruijven [1624-1674], Delft; possibly by inheritance to his wife, Maria de Knuijt [d. 1681], Delft; possibly by inheritance to her daughter, Magdalena van Ruijven [1655-1682], Delft; possibly by inheritance to her husband, Jacobus Abrahamsz. Dissius [1653-1695], Delft;[1] (his sale, Amsterdam, 16 May 1696, no. 1);[2] Isaac Rooleeuw [c. 1650-1710], Amsterdam; (his bankruptcy sale, Amsterdam, 20 April 1701, no. 6); Paolo van Uchelen [c. 1641-1702], Amsterdam; by inheritance 1703 to his son, Paolo van Uchelen the Younger [1673-1754], Amsterdam; by inheritance to his daughter, Anna Gertruijda van Uchelen [1705-1766], Amsterdam; (her estate sale, B. Tideman, Amsterdam, 18 March 1767, no. 6); Kok.[3] Nicolaas Nieuhoff [1733-1776], Amsterdam; (his estate sale, Arnoldus Dankmeyer, Amsterdam,14 April 1777 and days following, no. 116); Van den Bogaard.[4] Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria [1756-1825]; (his estate sale, Munich, 5 December 1826, no. 101, as by Gabriel Metsu); Louis Charles Victor de Riquet, duc de Caraman [1762-1839], Paris; (his sale, Salle Lebrun by Lacoste, Paris, 10-12 May 1830, no. 68). Casimir Pierre Péreir [1777-1832], Paris; his heirs; (his estate sale, Christie & Manson, London, 5 May 1848, no. 7);[5] purchased by Péreir's son, probably Auguste C.V.L. Périer, later Casimir-Périer [1811-1876];[6] probably by inheritance to Auguste's daughter, Marie Thérèse Henriette Jeanne, comtesse de Ségur [1844-1916, née Périer];[7] purchased 1910 by (P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London); one-quarter share purchased October 1910 by (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); sold 11 January 1911 to Peter A. B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[8] inheritance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] The 1683 inventory of goods accruing to Jacob Dissius after the death of his wife, Magdalena van Ruyven, lists twenty paintings by Vermeer. For the complete transactions between her husband, Jacob Dissius, and his father, Abraham Dissius, following her death, see John Michael Montias, Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History, Princeton, 1989: 246-257, 359-361, docs. 417, 420.
[2] For this sale see John Michael Montias, Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History, Princeton, 1989: 363-364, doc. 439.
[3] The archival sources in the Gemeentearchief, Amsterdam, for the painting’s provenance from Rooleeuw through the Van Uchelen family are detailed in Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., and B.P.J. Broos, Johannes Vermeer, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Mauritshuis, The Hague, New Haven and London, 1995: no. 10, 143, 145 nn. 19-22.
[4] The 1995 systematic catalogue of Dutch paintings in the NGA published the following information at this point in the provenance: "PP. [initials of consignor]; (sale, Ph. van der Schley, Amsterdam, 11 May 1801, no. 48); bought for Ph. van der Schley by M[errem]." This had been provided by The Getty Provenance Index, but was in error. The painting in the 1801 sale was one of the same subject by Pieter de Hooch, now in Berlin, according to a letter dated 27 October 1997 from Burton Fredericksen, then director of the Getty Provenance Index, Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., in NGA curatorial files.
[5] The 1848 sale catalogue says the painting came “from the Delapeyriere collection,” but this information is not correct. This collection is probably that of Augustin Lapeyrière (1779-1831), who owned at least two Vermeers, but neither was the Gallery’s painting.
[6] Théophile E. J. Thoré (William Bürger), "Van der Meer de Delft," Gazette des Beaux-Arts 21 (October-December 1866): 555-556.
[7] Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, "A Newly Discovered Picture by Vermeer of Delft," The Burlington Magazine 18 (December 1910): 133-134. The author incorrectly identifies the comtesse de Ségur as the sister of Casimir Périer.
[8] The painting is number 12167 in Painting Stock Book 5, stock numbers 8800-12652, April 1899-December 1911, p. 204, and in Sales Book 9, May 1907-January 1912, p. 287 (M. Knoedler & Co. Records, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; copies from digitized records in NGA curatorial files). In both entries the painting is listed as by "Jan Ver Meer."

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1912

  • Exhibition of Old Masters for the Benefit of The Artists' Funds and Artists' Aid Societies, M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1912, no. 49.

1925

  • A Loan Exhibition of Dutch Paintings, Detroit Institute of Arts, 1925, no. 33, repro.

1933

  • A Century of Progress Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago, 1933, no. 80.

1984

  • Masters of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Genre Painting, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin; Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1984, no. 118.

1995

  • Dutch Cabinet Galleries, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1995-1996, no catalogue.

  • Johannes Vermeer, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis, The Hague, 1995-1996, no. 10, repro.

1998

  • A Collector's Cabinet, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998, no. 61, fig. 14.

1999

  • Johannes Vermeer: The Art of Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1999-2000, brochure, fig. 9.

2000

  • The Public and the Private in the Age of Vermeer, Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, 2000, no. 33, repro.

2001

  • Vermeer and the Delft School, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The National Gallery, London, 2001, no. 73, repro., as Woman with a Balance.

2003

  • Vermeer y el interior holandés, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2003, no. 35, repro.

2009

  • Loan for display with permanent collection, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2009.

2011

  • Vermeer in München. König Maximilian I. Joseph von Bayern as Sammler Alter Meister [Vermeer in Munich - King Max I Joseph of Bavaria as a Collector of Old Masters], Bayerisches Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek, Munich, 2011, no. 1, repro.

2012

  • Masterpiece of the Month, Detroit Institute of Arts, 2012, no catalogue.

2017

  • Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry, Musée du Louvre, Paris; National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2017-2018, no. 14.2, repro.

2021

  • Johannes Vermeer. On Reflection, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden, 2021 - 2022, no. 7.

Bibliography

1866

  • Thoré, Théophile E. J. (William Bürger). "Van der Meer de Delft." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 21 (October–December 1866): 328, 459-460, 554-556, no. 27.

1888

  • Havard, Henry. Van der Meer de Delft. Paris, 1888: 37, no. 30.

1907

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. 8 vols. Translated by Edward G. Hawke. London, 1907-1927: 1(1907):586-587, no. 10.

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 10 vols. Esslingen and Paris, 1907-1928: 1(1907):592, no. 10.

1910

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. "A Newly Discovered Picture by Vermeer of Delft." The Burlington Magazine 18 (December 1910): 133–134.

1911

  • Bode, Wilhelm von. "Jan Vermeer und Pieter de Hooch als Konkurrenten." Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 32 (1911): 1-2, repro.

  • Plietzsch, Eduard. Vermeer van Delft. Leipzig, 1911: 49-50, 98, 119, no. 35.

1912

  • Frimmel, Theodor von. "A Woman Weighing Pearls by Vermeer of Delft." The Burlington Magazine 22 (October 1912): 48-49.

1913

  • Hale, Philip L. Jan Vermeer of Delft. Boston, 1913: 238, no. 1, 265-267, 350-351, 369, 373, repro.

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis, and Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Pictures in the collection of P. A. B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early German, Dutch & Flemish Schools. Philadelphia, 1913: unpaginated, repro., as_ A Woman Weighing Gold_.

  • Frimmel, Theodor von. Lexikon der Wiener Gemäldesammlungen. 2 vols. Munich, 1913: 1:248-249, pl. 37.

1919

  • Bode, Wilhelm von. Die Meister der holländischen und vlämischen Malerschulen. 2nd ed. Leipzig, 1919: 86-89, repro.

1921

  • Vanzype, Gustave. Jan Vermeer de Delft. Brussels and Paris, 1921: 73, repro.

1923

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro., as A Woman Weighing Gold.

1924

  • Hausenstein, Wilhelm. "Vermeer van Delft." Das Bild Atlanten zur Kunst 10 (1924): 26, fig. 17.

1925

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Loan Exhibition of Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. Exh. cat. Detroit Institute of Arts Detroit, 1925: no. 33, repro.

  • Lloyd, David. "The Vermeers in America." International Studio 82 (November 1925): 124, repro. 128.

1927

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. "Pieter de Hooch, Part II." _Art in America _ 15, no. 2 (February 1927): 74.

  • Ricci, Seymour de. "Le quarante-et-unième Vermeer." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 69 (1927): 306.

1929

  • Lucas, Edward Verrall. Vermeer the Magical. London, 1929: 28-29, repro.

1931

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 50, repro., as A Woman Weighing Gold.

1933

  • Rich, Daniel Catton, ed. A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture. Exh. cat. Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago,1933: 13, no. 80.

  • Frankfurter, Alfred M. "Art in the Century of Progress." The Fine Arts 20, no. 2 (June 1933): repro. 24.

1935

  • Tietze, Hans. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935: 187, 337, repro. .

1937

  • Hale, Philip Leslie. Vermeer. Edited by Frederick W. Coburn and Ralph T. Hale. Boston and New York, 1937: 140-142, pl. 27.

1938

  • Rudolph, Herbert. "‘Vanitas.’ Die Bedeutung mittelalterlicher und humanistischer Bildinhalte in der niederländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts." In Festschrift für Wilhelm Pinder zum sechzigsten Geburtstage. Leipzig, 1938: 407 fig. 2, 408-412, 433.

1939

  • Plietzsch, Eduard. Vermeer van Delft. Munich, 1939: 31, 56, 58, no. 9, pl. 36.

  • Vries, Ary Bob de. Jan Vermeer van Delft. Bibliotheek der Nederlandsche Kunst. Amsterdam, 1939: 46, 58, 76, 86-87, no. 23, pl. 48.

  • Tietze, Hans. Masterpieces of European Painting in America. New York, 1939: no. 187, repro.

1940

  • Goldscheider, Ludwig. The Paintings of Jan Vermeer. Oxford and New York, 1940: 13, pl. 33.

1942

  • National Gallery of Art. Works of art from the Widener collection. Washington, 1942: 7, no. 693, as A Woman Weighing Gold.

1944

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. Translated. New York, 1944: 104, color repro., as Woman Weighing Gold.

1945

  • Vries, Ary Bob de. Jan Vermeer van Delft. Basel, 1945: 56-57, 114-115, no. 23, pl. 49.

1946

  • Blum, André. Vermeer et Thoré-Bürger. Geneva, 1946: 30, 42, 60, 135, 171-172, no. 27.

1948

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Washington, 1948: 65, repro., as A Woman Weighing Gold.

  • Vries, Ary Bob de. Jan Vermeer van Delft. Translated by Robert Allen. Revised ed. London and New York, 1948: 39, 48, 87-88, pl. 17.

1949

  • Thienen, Frithjof van. Jan Vermeer of Delft. Masters of Painting. New York, 1949: 19, 23, no. 23, repro.

1950

  • Swillens, P. T. A. Johannes Vermeer: Painter of Delft, 1632–1675. Translated by C.M. Breuning-Williamson. Utrecht, 1950: 57-58, no. 20, 72, 78, 84, 86, 88, 105, 118, pl. 20.

1951

  • Whittet, G. S. "A Gallery of Art Dealers: P. & D. Colnaghi." The Studio 142 (October 1951): 118.

1952

  • Gowing, Lawrence. Vermeer. London, 1952: 44, 53, 135-136, pls. 44-46.

  • Malraux, André, ed. Vermeer de Delft. Paris, 1952: 16, repro., 62, no. xii, color repro.

1954

  • Bloch, Vitale. Tutta la Pittura di Vermeer di Delft. Milan, 1954: 21, 33, pls. 38, 39 (detail) .

1956

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: 44, color repro., as A Woman Weighing Gold.

1957

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 53, as A Woman Weighing Gold.

1958

  • Goldscheider, Ludwig. Jan Vermeer: The Paintings. London, 1958: 22, 138, no. 21, pl. 51, color pl. 52.

1959

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Reprint. Washington, DC, 1959: 65, repro., as A Woman Weighing Gold.

1960

  • Baird, Thomas P. Dutch Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art 7. Washington, 1960: 36, color repro., as_A Woman Weighing Gold_.

  • The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 26, color repro. 14, as Woman Weighing Gold.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 100, repro., as A Woman Weighing Gold.

  • Bloch, Vitale. All the Paintings of Jan Vermeer. Translated by Michael Kitson. The Complete Library of World Art 15. New York, 1963: 21, 33, pls. 38, 39 (detail).

  • Gimpel, René. Journal d'un collectionneur, marchand de tableaux. Paris, 1963: 234, 415.

1965

  • National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 135, as A Woman Weighing Gold.

1966

  • Descargues, Pierre. Vermeer. Translated by James Emmons. Geneva, 1966: 93, 131, color repros. 87, 92.

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2: 256, color repro., as Woman Weighing Gold.

  • Rosenberg, Jakob, Seymour Slive, and Engelbert H. ter Kuile. Dutch Art and Architecture: 1600-1800. Pelican History of Art. Batlimore, 1966: 121-122, pl. 91b.

1967

  • Bianconi, Piero. The Complete Paintings of Vermeer. New York, 1967: 92, no. 24, color pl. xix.

  • Koningsberger, Hans. The World of Vermeer 1632-1675. New York, 1967: 148, 152, 153, color repro.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 122, repro., as A Woman Weighing Gold.

  • Kühn, Hermann. "A Study of the Pigments and the Grounds Used by Jan Vermeer." Report and Studies in the History of Art 2 (1968-1969):191-192, no. 17.

  • Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 138-139, color repro.

1970

  • Walicki, Michal. Jan Vermeer van Delft. Dresden, 1970: 32-37, fig. 49.

1971

  • Carstensen, Richard, and Marielene Putscher. "Ein Bild von Vermeer in medizinhistorischen Sicht." Deutsches Ärzteblatt-Ärtzliche Mitteilungen 68 (December 1971): 1-6, repro.

1972

  • Kahr, Madlyn Millner. "Vermeer's Girl Asleep." Metropolitan Museum Journal 6 (1972): 129 n. 29.

1973

  • Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 93, 96 repro.

  • Mistler, Jean. Vermeer. Collection Le Peintre et l’Homme. Paris, 1973: no. 19, repro.

  • Walsh, John, Jr. "Vermeer." _Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art _ 31, no. 4 (Summer 1973): unpaginated, fig. 75, as Woman with Scales.

1974

  • Grimme, Ernst Günther. Jan Vermeer van Delft. Cologne, 1974: 54, no. 17, figs. 11, 12 (detail).

1975

  • Blankert, Albert. Johannes Vermeer van Delft, 1632-1675. Utrecht, 1975: 62-64, 82, 149-150, no. 15, color repro.

  • Dudok van Heel, S. A. C. . "De Kunstverzamelingen van Lennep met de Arundeltekeningen." _Amstelodamum _ 67 (1975): 162.

  • National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 362, repro., as A Woman Weighing Gold.

1976

  • Alpers, Svetlana. "Describe or Narrate? A Problem in Realistic Representation." New Literary History 8, no. 1 (Autumn 1976): 25-26, 37, fig. 12.

  • Harbison, Craig. "Reformation Iconography: Problems and Attitudes." Print Review (Tribute to Wolfgang Stechow) 5 (Autumn 1976): 83, fig. 8.

  • Wright, Christopher. Vermeer. London, 1976: 13-14, 74, 76, 78, 81, fig. 25.

1977

  • Menzel, Gerhard W. Vermeer. Leipzig, 1977: 48, 56-57, color repro., detail.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. "Review of Albert Blankert's Johannes Vermeer van Delft, 1632-1675." The Art Bulletin 59, no. 3 (1977): 439-441.

  • Martin, John Rupert. Baroque. London, 1977: 132-133, fig. 99.

  • Silver, Larry. "Power and Pelf: A New-Found "Old Man" by Massys." _Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art _ 9, no. 2 (1977): 84-85.

1978

  • Picture Gallery Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz Berlin: Catalogue of Paintings 13th-18th Century. Translated by Linda B. Parshall. 2nd rev. ed. Berlin-Dahlem, 1978: 212.

  • Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Catalogue of Paintings: 13th-18th Century. Translated by Linda B. Parshall. 2nd revised ed. Berlin-Dahlem, 1978: 212.

  • Blankert, Albert. Vermeer of Delft: Complete Edition of the Paintings. Oxford, 1978: 22, 41-44, 49, 54, 67, 161-162, no. 15, color repro.

1979

  • Snow, Edward A. A Study of Vermeer. Berkeley, 1979: 10, 34-36, 38, 44, 60, 62, 97, 126, 132-136, 138, 174-176, color repro. fig. 13; color details figs. 26, 51, 52.

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 75, pl. 61.

1980

  • Reuterswärd, Patrik. "Om realismen i holländsk bildtradition." Konsthistorisk Tidskrift 49 (June 1980): 8, fig. 8.

  • Seth, Lennart. "Vermeer och van Veens ‘Amorum Emblemata’." Konsthistorisk Tidskrift 49, no. 1 (June 1980): 24.

  • Sutton, Peter C. Pieter de Hooch: Complete Edition with a Catalogue Raisonné. Oxford, 1980: 45, 68 n. 37, fig. 32.

1981

  • Slatkes, Leonard J. Vermeer and His Contemporaries. New York, 1981: 55-56, color repro., color detail.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Jan Vermeer. New York, 1981: 41-42, 106-109, color pls. 22, 23 (detail).

1983

  • Salomon, Nanette. "Vermeer and the Balance of Destiny." In Essays in Northern European Art Presented to Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann on His Sixtieth Birthday. Edited by Anne-Marie Logan. Doornspijk, 1983: 216-221, repro.

1984

  • Gaskell, Ivan. "Vermeer, Judgment and Truth." The Burlington Magazine 126 (September 1984): 557-561, repro.

  • Sutton, Peter C. Masters of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Genre Painting. Edited by Jane Iandola Watkins. Exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art; Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin; Royal Academy of Arts, London. Philadelphia, 1984: no. 118.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 301, no. 400, color repro.

  • Rosenberg, Jakob, Seymour Slive, and Engelbert H. ter Kuile. Dutch Art and Architecture. The Pelican History of Art. Revised ed. Harmondsworth, 1984: 121-122, pl. 91b.

1985

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 421, repro.

  • Wyss, Beat. Trauer der Vollendung: von der Ästhetik des Deutschen Idealismus zur Kulturkritik an der Moderne. Münich, 1985: 98-101, repro.

1986

  • Aillaud, Gilles, Albert Blankert, and John Michael Montias. Vermeer. Paris, 1986: 49, 51, 112, 114, 116, no. 15, 183-185, pl. 15.

  • Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Grand Rapids and Kampen, 1986: 311, repro.

1988

  • Bialostocki, Jan. "Mere Imitation of Nature or Symbolic Image of the World? Problems in the Interpretation of Dutch Painting of the XVIIth Century." In The Message of Images: Studies in the History of Art. Vienna, 1988: 171, fig. 129.

  • Reuterswärd, Patrik. "Vermeer. Ett försvar för ögats vittnesbörd." Konsthistorisk Tidskrift 57, part 2 (1988): 55-59, fig. 2.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Jan Vermeer. Masters of Art. 2nd rev. ed. New York, 1988: 82, color repro.

1989

  • Montias, John Michael. Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History. Princeton, 1989: 162, 182, 191, 255-256, 261, fig. 30.

1990

  • Cunnar, Eugene R. "The Viewer’s Share: Three Sectarian Readings of Vermeer’s Woman with a Balance." Exemplaria 2 (1990): 501-536.

  • Liedtke, Walter A. "Dutch Paintings in America: The Collectors and their Ideals." In Great Dutch Paintings from America. Edited by Ben P.J. Broos. Exh. cat. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Zwolle, 1990: 43.

  • Liedtke, Walter A. "Dutch Paintings in America: The Collectors and their Ideals." In Great Dutch Paintings from America. Edited by Ben P.J. Broos. Exh. cat. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The Hague and Zwolle, 1990: 43.

1991

  • Nash, John. Vermeer. London, 1991: 24, 26, 28, 39, 98-99, color repro.

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 195.

  • Bal, Mieke. Reading "Rembrandt": beyond the word-image opposition. Cambridge new art history and criticism. Cambridge, 1991: 1-4, 19-23, 177, repro. 0.1.

  • Martz, Louis L. From Renaissance to Baroque: essays on literature and art. Columbia, Missouri, 1991: 32-33, fig. 12.

1992

  • National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 137, repro.

  • Lucie-Smith, Edward. Art and Civilization. New York, 1992: 300-301, fig. 17.10.

  • Fiero, Gloria K. The Age of the Baroque and the European Enlightenment. The Humanist Tradition 4. 1st ed. [7th ed. 2015] Dubuque, Iowa, 1992: 47-48, fig. 22.10.

1993

  • Schneider, Norbert. Jan Vermeer 1632-1675: Verhüllung der Gefühle. Cologne, 1993: 95, no. 59.

  • Stoichita, Victor I. L'Instauration du tableau: Métapeinture à l'aube des temps modernes. Paris, 1993: 176-177, fig. 75.

1994

  • Brunette, Peter, and David Wills. Deconstruction and the Visual Arts: Art, Media, Architecture. Cambridge, England, 1994: 51, fig. 1.

  • Asemissen, Hermann Ulrich, and Gunter Schweikhart. Malerei als Thema der Malerei. Berlin, 1994: 232-233, fig. 29.

  • Knafou, Rémy. Vermeer: mystère du quotidien. Paris, 1994: 38-39, repro.

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr., and Ben P. J. Broos. Johannes Vermeer. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague. Zwolle, 1995: no. 10, repro.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Vermeer and the Art of Painting. New Haven, 1995: 96 color fig. 70, 97-103, detail and conservation figs. 71-73, no. A16, repro. 176.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 371-377, color repro. 373.

  • Feldman, Edmund Burke. The Artist: A Social History. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, 1995: repro. 190, 191.

  • Slive, Seymour, and Jakob Rosenberg. Dutch painting 1600-1800. Pelican History of Art. Revised and expanded ed. New Haven, 1995: 148.

  • Janson, Horst W., and Anthony F. Janson. History of art. 5th ed. New York, 1995: 38, 39 fig. 23.

  • Bailey, Martin. Vermeer. London, 1995: 72-74, repro.

  • Wright, Christopher. Vermeer: catalogue raisonné. London, 1995: 56-57, repro.

  • Gregory, Quint [Henry D. Gregory V]. "Vermeer, tout l'oeuvre peint." Connaissance des Arts 522 (November 1996): 80-81, figs. 4, 5 (detail)..

  • Dudat, Helen. "Time stands still in the harmonious world of Vermeer." Smithsonian 26, no. 8 (November 1995): 110.

  • Cooper, James F. "Vermeer Illuminates the National Gallery." American Arts Quarterly (Fall 1995): 3-7, repro.

  • Bailey, Martin. "The Painter of Light." Silver Kris - The Travel Magazine of Singapore Airlines (November 1995): 42-45, repro.

  • Fiero, Gloria K. The Age of the Baroque and the European Enlightenment. The Humanistic Tradition 4. 2nd ed. [7th ed. 2015] Madison, 1995: 55, fig. 22.10.

1996

  • Wallis, Stephen. "Sketchbook: Knoedler Turns 150." Art & Antiques 19, no. 10 (November 1996): 18.

  • Kissick, John. Art: Context and Criticism. Madison, 1996: 21-22, fig. 1.7.

  • Kersten, Michiel C.C., and Daniëlle H.A.C. Lokin. Delft masters, Vermeer's contemporaries: illusionism through the conquest of light and space. Exh. cat. Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof, Delft. Zwolle, 1996: 204-206, repro.

  • Larsen, Erik. Jan Vermeer. Translated by Tania Gargiulo. Biblioteca d'arte. Florence, 1996: 99-101.

  • Netta, Irene. Das Phänomen Zeit bei Jan Vermeer van Delft: eine Analyse der innerbildlichen Zeitstrukturen seiner ein- und mehrfigurigen Interieurbilder. Studien zur Kunstgeschichte 105. Hildesheim, 1996: 257, fig. 23.

  • Chalumeau, Jean Luc. Vermeer, 1632-1675. Découvrons l'art - XVIIe siècle 1. Paris, 1996: no. 14, repro.

  • Hertel, Christiane. Vermeer: Reception and Interpretation. Cambridge, 1996: 215-216, repro.

1997

  • Gowing, Lawrence. Vermeer. 3rd ed. London, 1997: 135-136, figs. 44-46.

  • Niggemeyer, Margarete, and Hans-Walter Stork. Perlen schimmern auf den Toren: eine Auslegung des Perlensymbols in christlichen und ausserchristlichen Traditionen. Paderborn, 1997: 63, repro.

  • Robinson, James. "Vermeer." Classical Realism Journal 3, no. 2 (1997): 12, 15 fig. 8.

  • Scholz, Georg. Lyrische Bilder: Gedichte nach Gemälden von Jan Vermeer. Munich, 1997: 42, repro.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Vermeer: The Complete Works. New York, 1997: 36-37, no. 16, repro.

  • Gebhardt, Volker. Kunstgeschichte Malerei. Cologne, 1997: no. 127, repro.

  • Toman, Rolf. Die Kunst des Barock: Architektur, Skulptur, Malerei. Cologne, 1997: 465, repro.

  • Robinson, James. "Vermeer, II." Classical Realism Journal 4, no. 1 (1997): repro. 46, 48.

1998

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675): Sainte Praxède - Saint Praxedis. Collection de Madame Piasecka Johnson. Exh. cat. Musée de La Chapelle de la Visitation, Monaco, 1998: 8, 17 fig. 7, 28.

  • Fiero, Gloria K. Faith, Reason and Power in the Early Modern World. The Humanistic Tradition 4. 3rd ed. New York, 1998: no. 22.10, repro.

  • Schlenke, Hubertus. Vermeer, mit Spinoza gesehen. Berlin, 1998: 52-55, figs. 13a, 13b (detail), 94-99, figs. 21, 21a (detail).

  • Gersch-Nešic, Beth. “Pregnancy." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:754.

  • Sutton, Peter C. Pieter de Hooch, 1629-1684. Exh. cat. Dulwich Picture Gallery, London; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford. New Haven, 1998: 52-55, repro.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. A Collector's Cabinet. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998: 24, 26, fig. 14, 32, 68, no. 61.

  • Roberts, Helene E., ed. Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:749, 753.

  • Gifford, Melanie E. "Painting Light: Recent Observations on Vermeer's Technique." In Vermeer Studies. Edited by Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Studies in the History of Art 55 (1998): 185-199, fig. 1.

1999

  • Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. 2 vols. Rev.ised ed. New York, 1999: 2:795-797, fig. 19-53.

  • Zuffi, Stefano, and Francesca Castria. La peinture baroque. Translated from Italian by Silvia Bonucci and Claude Sophie Mazéas. Paris, 1999: 208-209, color repro.

  • Sweet, Christopher. The Essential Johannes Vermeer. New York, 1999: 70-71, repro.

  • Zeki, Semir. Inner vision: an exploration of art and the brain. Oxford, 1999: 27-29, 28 fig. 4.3.

2000

  • Kallenberg, Kjell, and Gerry Larsson. Människans hälsa: Livsåskådning och personlighet. Stockholm, 2000: cover repro.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. The Public and the Private in the Age of Vermeer. Exh. cat. Osaka Municipal Museum of Art. London, 2000: 10, repro. detail, 13, fig. 4, cat. 33, 182-184, repro., 201, no. 16, repro.

  • Savedoff, Barbara E. Transforming Images: How Photography Complicates the Picture. Ithaca, 2000: 11-14, repro.

  • Chapman, H. Perry. "Women in Vermeer's Home: Mimesis and ideation." Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 51 (2000): 254-257, repro.

2001

  • Bal, Mieke. Looking In: The Art of Viewing. Critical voices in art, theory and culture. Amsterdam, 2001: 65-66, repro.

  • Wolf, Bryan Jay. Vermeer and the Invention of Seeing. Chicago, 2001: 167-170, repro.

  • Netta, Irene. Vermeer's world: an artist and his town. Pegasus Library. Munich and New York, 2001: 17, 84, repro.

  • Franits, Wayne E., ed. The Cambridge companion to Vermeer. Cambridge, England, and New York, 2001: 4, 5, 54, 60-63, 68, 69-70, 71-72, 122-125, 141, 143, 144, 147-149, 154, 159-160, 169-170, 180, pl.15.

2002

  • Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta, ed. L'art flamand et hollandais: Belgique et Pays-Bas, 1520-1914. Paris, 2002: repro. 268, 302.

  • Bailey, Anthony. Vermeer. Translated by Bettina Blumenberg. Berlin, 2002: 148-149, repro.

2003

  • Huerta, Robert D. Giants of Delft: Johannes Vermeer and the natural philosophers: the parallel search for knowledge during the age of discovery. Lewisburg, 2003: 47, 66, 68, repro.

  • Fowler, Alastair. Renaissance realism: narrative images in literature and art. Oxford, 2003: 10, fig. 15.

  • Vergara, Alejandro. Vermeer y el interior holandés. Exh. cat. Museo nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2003: 172-173, 254, repro.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 206-207, no. 163, color repro.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. "Framing Vermeer." In Collected Opinions: Essays on Netherlandish Art in Honour of Alfred Bader. Edited by Volker Manuth and Axel Rüger. London, 2004: 232-238, repro.

  • Paskow, Alan. The paradoxes of art: a phenomenological investigation. Cambridge, 2004: 174-183, pl. 2.

  • Salomon, Nanette. Shifting priorities: gender and genre in seventeenth-century Dutch painting. Stanford, 2004: 13-18, fig. 1.

  • Cabanne, Pierre. Vermeer. Translated by John Tittensor. Paris, 2004: 164, 180, repro.

2005

  • Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. Rev. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, 2005: 776, color fig. 19.64.

  • Harris, Ann Sutherland. Seventeenth-century art & architecture. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2005: 371, repro.

  • Lopes, Dominic McIver. Sight and sensibility: evaluating pictures. Oxford, 2005: 1-5, repro.

  • Huerta, Robert D. Vermeer and Plato: painting the ideal. Lewisburg, 2005: 54, 55, repro.

  • Alpers, Svetlana. The Vexations of Art: Velázquez and Others. New Haven and London, 2005: 102-104, repro.

2006

  • Dekiert, Marcus. Alte Pinakothek: Holländische und deutsche Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts. Munich, 2006: 19-21, color fig. 9.

  • Franits, Wayne E. Pieter de Hooch: A woman preparing bread and butter for a boy. Getty Museum Studies on Art. Los Angeles, 2006: 30-32, fig. 29, 72 n. 25.

  • Stone, Harriet Amy. Tables of knowledge: Descartes in Vermeer's studio. Ithaca, 2006: 125-131, pl. 14.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. "A Museum Curator’s Perspective." IFAR Journal: International Foundation of Art Research 8, no. 3-4 (2006): 96-97, repro.

2008

  • Lopez, Jonathan. The man who made Vermeers: unvarnishing the legend of master forger Han van Meegeren. Orlando, 2008: 53.

  • Dolnick, Edward. The Forger’s Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century. New York, 2008: 90-91.

  • Liedtke, Walter A. Vermeer: the complete paintings. Ghent, 2008: no. 19, 118-121, repro.

2009

  • Gariff, David, Eric Denker, and Dennis P. Weller. The World's Most Influential Painters and the Artists They Inspired. Hauppauge, NY, 2009: 83, color repro.

2010

  • Taylor, Paul. Vermeer, Lairesse and Composition. Hofstede de Groot Lectures 1. Zwolle, 2010: 6, 21, repro.

2011

  • Nuechterlein, Jeanne. Translating Nature Into Art: Holbein, The Reformation, and Renaissance Rhetoric. University Park, Pennsylvania, 2011: 3, fig. 3.

  • Henderson, Jasper and Victor Schiferli. Vermeer: The Life and Work of a Master. Amsterdam, 2011: 46-49, color ill.

  • Dekiert, Marcus. Vermeer in München: König Max I Joseph von Bayern als Sammler Alter Meister. Exh. cat. Bayerisches Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek. Munich, 2011: 48-53, no. 1, color repro.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr., and Daniëlle H.A.C. Lokin. Human Connections in the Age of Vermeer. Exh. cat. Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai; Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo. London, 2011: 46, fig. 14.

  • Wieseman, Marjorie E. Vermeer's Women: Secrets and Silence. Exh. cat. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. New Haven, 2011: 82-85, repro.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr., and Daniëlle H.A.C. Lokin. Communication: Visualizing the Human Connection in the Age of Vermeer. Japanese ed. Exh. cat. Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai; Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, 2011: 46, fig. 14.

2012

  • Moser, Benjamin. "Mammonomania: A Reappraisal of Dutch Golden Age Paintings." Harper's 324, no. 1,942 (March 2012): 73-75, color repro.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr., Walter A. Liedtke, and Sandrina Bandera Bistoletti. Vermeer: il secolo d'oro dell'arte olandese. Exh. cat. Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome. Milan, 2012: 26, 27 fig. 5, 67-68, 72 fig. 29.

2014

  • Wheelock, Arthur K, Jr. "The Evolution of the Dutch Painting Collection." National Gallery of Art Bulletin no. 50 (Spring 2014): 2-19, repro.

2015

  • Silver, Larry. "Massys and Money: The Tax Collectors Rediscovered." Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 7:2 (Summer 2015): fig. 15. Online resource, DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2015.7.2.2

2016

  • Warner-Johnson, Tim, and Jeremy Howard, ed. Colnaghi: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. London, 2016: 108-109, color plate 31.

  • Smith, Dominic. The Last Painting of Sarah de Vos. New York, 2016: 216-217.

2018

  • Meersschaert, Erik. Adrian Brouwer--zo zijn leven, zo zijn werk. Oudenaarde, 2018: 256, 261, color repro.

2020

  • Grootenboer, Hanneke. The Pensive Image: Art as a Form of Thinking. Chicago, 2020: 11.

  • Libby, Alexandra. “From Personal Treasures to Public Gifts: The Flemish Painting Collection at the National Gallery of Art.” In America and the Art of Flanders: Collecting Paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and their Circles, edited by Esmée Quodbach. The Frick Collection Studies in the History of Art Collecting in America 5. University Park, 2020: 137.

2021

  • Quodbach, Esmée. "A forgotten episode from America's history of collecting: the rise and fall of art dealer Leo Nardus, 1894-1908." Simiolus 43, no. 4 (2021): 353-375, esp. 368-369, 368 fig. 20.

2022

  • Libby, Alexandra, E. Melanie Gifford, Dina Anchin, Marjorie E. Wieseman, Kathryn A. Dooley, Lisha Deming Glinsman, and John K. Delaney. "Experimentation and Innovation in Vermeer’s Girl with the Red Hat: New Findings from the National Gallery of Art." Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 14, no. 2 (Summer 2022): figs.2, 4, 17, and 22.

  • Gifford, E. Melanie, Kathryn A. Dooley, and John K. Delaney. "Methodology & Resources: New Findings from the National Gallery of Art." Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art. 14, no. 2 (Summer 2022): figs. 29, 37, 38, 46, 48.

  • Georgievska-Shine, Aneta. Vermeer and the Art of Love. London, 2022: 118-127, 156, color fig. 85, 148, nt. 12.

  • Gifford, Melanie, Dina Anchin, Alexandra Libby, Marjorie E. Wieseman, Kathryn A. Dooley, Lisha Deming Glinsman, and John K. Delaney, "First Steps in Vermeer’s Creative Process: New Findings from the National Gallery of Art." _Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art_14, no. 2 (Summer 2022): figs. 2, 22-25, 40, 41, 46-52, and 66.

Wikidata ID

Q969367

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