Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/609

vi JOHANNES VERMEER 585 In the possession of the dealer Ch. Sedelmeyer, Paris ; and bought in 1885 by the Frankfort Kunstverein for the Stadel'sches Kunstinstitut. Now in the Stadel'sches Kunstinstitut, Frankfort-on-Main, 1900 catalogue, No. 217. 6. THE ASTRONOMER. B. 36 ; H. 39. An astronomer in a blue costume, seen at full length, sits at a table to the right. With his right hand he turns a celestial globe ; he leans with his left hand on the corner of the table. Before him lies an open book. The table-cloth, which has a large pattern, is pushed back from the front. The astronomer's profile, the table, and the globe are brightly illumined by the light from a window to the left. A coat-of-arms, only part of which is visible, is inserted in this window. At the back is a cupboard on which are books. To the right, behind the astronomer, is a picture, cut off by the frame ; it probably represents "The finding of Moses"; the back of a nude woman and two other female figures may be discerned in it. The same picture hangs in the interior represented in the Beit picture, "The Love- Letter " (35), and is there more plainly seen. This work is very similar to " The Astronomer " at Frankfort (5). It seems to have been slightly cut down on the right, since in the Lebrun engraving more can be seen of the picture on the wall and of the chair. Canvas, 20 inches by 18 inches. Sales. Rotterdam, April 27, 1713, No. n (300 florins, with a picture of the same subject). Hendrik Sorgh, Amsterdam, March 28, 1720 (160 florins, with pendant). Govert Looten, Amsterdam, March 13, 1729 (104 florins, with pendant). In the Lebrun collection, Paris, 1792. Sales. J. Danser Nijman, Amsterdam, August 16, 1797, No. 167 (270 florins). Jan Gildemeester Jansz, Amsterdam, June n, 1800, No. 139 (340 florins, Labouchere). London, 1863. In the collection of the late Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, Paris. 7. A Young Girl conversing with a Doctor. B. 22 ; H. 25. A learned man stands near. Canvas, 32 inches by 26 inches. Sale. J. Hulswit, Amsterdam, October 28, 1822, No. 83 (81 florins, Smart). 'ja. A Nun reading. Copper, 17 inches by 15 inches. Sale. Leyden, July 3, 1821, No. 35 (9 florins 15, Smart). 8. THE ARTIST AT WORK. B. 5 j H. 5. In the right fore- ground the artist sits, with his back to the spectator, on a stool in front of his easel. He has a mahlstick in one hand, a brush in the other. He is painting a comely girl, who stands farther back to the left. The outlines of the half-length figure are sketched in with chalk on the canvas ; the master has begun to paint the garland which adorns the model's head.