A Restored Vermeer Painting Reveals a Hidden Cupid Artwork Hanging in the Background

This Is Colossal ^ | 8/25/2021 | Grace Ebert

[Ezekiel]

Agreed. The cupid inspires the viewer to consider what might have been in the note.

Was it a love letter?

[Tax-chick]

The symbolic fruit already conveyed the message. That big naked baby is overkill.

[Steve_Seattle]

"I like the yellower tone on the walls."

So do I. And without the Cupid, the focus is all on the girl reading her letter. The Cupid kind of detracts from that.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Better composition without the cupid."

I agree.

[logitech]

Looks like one of earliest examples of photo bombing.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Without the Cupid, she may as well have been reading a bill."

I don't think anyone would think that. They would probably think it was a love letter or a letter about a member of her family. The image without the cupid creates a sense of loneliness, and to me the cupid is kind of a distraction.

[ETCM]

I like the painting without it better; the Cupid detracts from the girl.

Yeah, I'm no art expert like Hunter Biden, but my eyes prefer the Cupid free version. I can understand getting rid of it. The original also had the observer looking in at the girl through an open window, while the repainted version removed the window frame (but not the curtain), removing a somewhat voyeuristic perspective. Between the two changes, the artistic intent is significantly changed.

[HandyDandy]

The fruit was a vague hint. But I like it better with the Cupid. Perhaps a smaller Cupid would have sufficed.
The fruit could also suggest she is reading a grocery list.

[Scaramouch]

Van Meegerin strikes again!

[Tax-chick]

The fruit was a profound hint for the contemporaneous audience. Nothing in painting of that era was “just a grocery list.”

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

• Girl with the Pearl Earring

[mairdie]

TOTALLY agree!

[PLMerite]

Still can't beat this "restoration":

[Beowulf9]

I don’t understand why Cupid is portrayed as a naked baby. Is there anything less sexy than a fat naked baby, unless you’re a real sicko.

[StAntKnee]

You are on the nose. Vermeer didn’t like it either. That’s why he painted over it. A much cleaner rendition. Even with the colors enhanced elsewhere in the painting . . . Ruined.

[StAntKnee]

Say, is that Scarlett Johansson?

[HandyDandy]

I concur with the author of the article.
”What was once thought to be a somewhat glum depiction of a young girl reading near a window is now an amorous portrayal thanks to the unveiling of a naked Cupid hanging in the background.”

[HandyDandy]

Read the article. Vermeer did not paint over it. He left it original with Cupid. Cupid was overpainted decades later by an anonymous vandal.

[Daffynition]

I can even see the fruit flies hovering around the fruit.