Vermeer’s “A Maid Asleep” painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has been found to have a hidden figure of a man holding a paintbrush, which was painted by the artist. The revelation was made by Dorothy Mahon and her team, who used X-ray fluorescence technology to study the painting.
An Artist in the Background
The study revealed that the hidden figure is that of an artist at work, standing in front of an easel and holding a brush. The figure is believed to be a self-portrait of Vermeer himself. When the artist painted over the figure, he transformed the easel into a window frame.
Possible Influence by Maes
The study also identified a painting by Nicolaes Maes, a contemporary of Vermeer, which shows a small figure of an artist reflected in a mirror hanging on the wall. The painting, “The Naughty Drummer,” is in the Thyssen Collection in Madrid and dates from around 1655, slightly before Vermeer’s “A Maid Asleep.” Maes lived in Dordrecht, which was 30 km from Vermeer’s Delft, and while there is no evidence that the two artists met, Vermeer was likely familiar with Maes’s work. The presence of the reflected artist in Maes’s painting may have influenced Vermeer’s decision to paint the hidden figure in “A Maid Asleep” as an artist at work.
The Meaning of the Painting
Identifying the hidden figure in “A Maid Asleep” as an artist may provide insight into the meaning of the painting. The sleeping woman in the painting, previously thought to be a maid, may actually be a model who is exhausted from posing. The painting may require a new title to reflect this interpretation.
Dorothy Mahon and her colleagues, Silvia Centeno and Federico Carò, continue to study the Vermeer painting to gain more insight into the artist’s work. The discovery of the hidden figure and its potential meaning highlights the importance of continued research and technological advancements in art conservation.
