30 By removing the comparatively thin layer of varnish, which showed considerable signs of typical brownish discolouration, Vermeer’s paintwork emerged with astounding freshness. The cleaning also revealed to us that the Girl Reading a Letter was in a largely undamaged state of preservation. There were only a few small areas of paint loss, for example in the separation of the paint layers in the chest area of the girl’s yellow jacket (figs. 10 a + b) and in the upper right-hand corner directly below the curtain rail . Along the edge of the foremost strip of green curtain, rendered as catching the most light and thus broadly highlighted with white, a small piece of impasto paint had become detached some 11 centimetres from the rail (fig. 9). There were further small areas of paint loss in the upper part of the window jamb just below the curtain rail, on the upper-left part of the window frame, and the lefthand edge of the rug. Above the blue window casement, an area in the red curtain, 2 × 2 centimetres in size, showed signs of abrasion, which may perhaps stem from an earlier sample removal. Curiously, the paint layer is heavily abraded in the area of Vermeer’s signature, which the artist placed to the right of the girl’s skirt. This may be an indication of tampering or the result of earlier, alcohol-based authenticity tests on the lettering (figs. 11, 12). Moreover, there is minor damage to the paint layer in other passages, which were perhaps caused by an earlier restorer’s actions, for example, in the black skirt, in the background behind the girl, and especially on the darkened wall above the open window. In order to complete a full inventory of damage to the paint layer, we should also point out here the areas that would subsequently come to light during the removal of the overpaint layers: In the background Cupid picture there is an old scratch in the paint layer, which stretches for 2.5 centimetres, running parallel to the figure’s right shoulder and unraised upper arm (fig. 13). The removal of two colour samples in 2017 in the background of the picture-within-a-picture to the left of the Cupid’s head and in his groin area have likewise resulted in small losses in the paint layer. At the edges of the Girl Reading a Letter, we find further isolated areas of paint loss (see overall photograph in the Atlas, p. 118, fig. 3). On the left-hand border, these areas appear in a cluster starting some 10 centimetres from the bottom, with the losses so extensive that they go through all paint layers, leaving the canvas support exposed in places. In the lower left-hand corner, we find several more losses, while in the upper lefthand corner, the abrasion is so noticeable that it would appear that the paint layer was deliberately sanded down to the canvas. Along the lower and upper margins of Girl Reading a Letter, there are only a very small number of minor losses, while in contrast, larger areas of abrasion and heavy paint loss occur on the right-hand edge of the painting. These damaged areas start 10 centimetres from the bottom edge – in a strikingly similar manner to the losses on the opposite side – and extend over a length of approximately 7 centimetres. On a rather unresolved passage in the carpet, to the right by the fruit bowl, the upper paint layers show similar signs of damage (see p. 95, fig. 11). Here, the painter initially depicted a lion’s head finial that would have obscured the carpet behind it. The finial was intended as part of a second Spanish chair conceived for the space in front of the table. When Vermeer discarded this idea, he covered the passage rather hastily by integrating the finial’s form into the rug pattern. Today, as a result of the aging of the paint layers, two small highlights that were originally meant to gleam on the left-hand side of the lion’s head now appear on the peach lying to the right, in a manner that defies the logical fall of light in the interior scene.16 Some of the points in this damage survey, described here in detail, became visible to the naked eye with the removal of the varnish. This initial Fig. 11 Detail with remnants of Vermeer’s signature Fig. 12 Tracing of Vermeer’s signature remains
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