Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/617

vi JOHANNES VERMEER 593 length, sits in profile to the left at a spinet. She turns her head to the spectator ; her hands are on the keys. Before her is a music-book j only the front of the instrument is visible. Behind the girl is a bare white- washed wall. Canvas, 9^ inches by 7^ inches. Sale. W. Reyers, Amsterdam, September 21, 1814, No. 93 (30 florins, Gruyter) said to be on panel. [See 23.] In the collection of the late Alfred Beit, London. 25. A YOUNG LADY SEATED AT THE SPINET. B. 30; H. 33. On the right, a young lady in blue, whose whole figure is shown, sits in profile to the left at a spinet. She turns her head to the spectator ; her hands are on the keys. On the inside of the lid, which is thrown back, is painted a landscape. On the wall hangs a picture which is cut off" by the frame. This picture represents a woman playing the mandoline, who is embraced by an old man, while a youth appears to show her a coin. The same picture is given in " The Concert " (29). In the left foreground is a violoncello, cut off by the frame j above it hangs a Gobelins tapestry. The floor is paved with black and white tiles ; the lower part of the wall is covered with Delft tiles. [Compare 23.] Signed on the wall to the right of the girl's head " J. v. Meer " (the J and M intertwined) ; canvas, 20 inches by iy| inches. Described by Parthey (ii. 98). Exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1894, No. 93. Sales. Graf SchOnborn-Pommersfelden, Paris, May 17, 1867. Thore-Burger, Paris, December 5, 1892, No. 32 (25,000 francs). In the possession of the Paris dealer Ch. Sedelmeyer, " Catalogue of 300 Paintings," 1898, No. 85. Now in the collection of George Salting, London. 26. A LADY PLAYING THE GUITAR. B. 28; H. 31.- A young lady with fresh red cheeks, wearing a white silk dress and a yellow jacket trimmed with ermine, sits on the left facing the spectator. Her figure is seen at three-quarter length. She looks with a smile at some- thing above her to the left. Behind her is a table with a blue cloth, on which are several books. On the wall hangs a landscape. The scene is lighted from a window with a dark blue curtain on the right. The colours are delicately harmonised. The paint is thin. This picture belongs to about the same period as the National Gallery picture (23). Signed in full ; canvas, 19^ inches by i6| inches. Exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1892, No. 46. The picture was, after Vermeer's death in 1676, in the possession of his widow, Catharina Bolnes ; this picture, and " The Love Letter " in the Beit collection (35), were given as security for a debt of 617 florins. Sales. Amsterdam, May 16, 1696, No. 4 (70 florins). Ph. van der Schley and D. du Pre, Amsterdam, December 22, 1817, No. 62 (65 florins 5, Coders). In the possession of the dealer Gruyter, Amsterdam. In the collections of J. H. C. Cremer, Brussels measuring, according to VOL. I 2 Q