The misbehavior of unsupervised maidservants was a common subject for seventeenth-century Dutch painters. Yet in his depiction of a young maid dozing next to a glass of wine, Vermeer transfigured an ordinary scene into an investigation of light, color, and texture that supersedes any moralizing lesson. While the toppled glass at left (now abraded with time) and rumpled table carpet may indicate a recently departed visitor, X-radiographs indicate that Vermeer chose to remove a male figure he had originally included standing in the doorway, heightening the painting’s ambiguity.
This picture is possibly Vermeer's first effort in the field to which he devoted nearly all of his mature career: scenes of domestic life, usually focusing on a woman's personal surroundings. It probably dates from 1656 or 1657, following Diana and Her Companions of about 1653–54 (Mauritshuis, The Hague), Christ in the House of Mary and Martha of about 1655 (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh), and The Procuress, dated 1656 (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden). It is likely one of the earliest works by Vermeer to have been acquired by the contemporary Delft collector Pieter Claesz van Ruijven (1624–1674), who owned all or at least most of the twenty-one paintings by Vermeer sold in the estate sale of his son-in-law, Jacob Dissius, in 1696.
It is known from technical examination (see fig. 1 above) that Vermeer made several changes to the picture. An x-radiograph reveals the figure of a man in the rear room, his head coincident with the mirror which, like the table below it, was added at a later stage. The man's face appears to be seen in profile, and two different hats were tried on his head. The larger hat is seen from the front, indicating that at one stage the man was coming toward the viewer. A dog stood by the open door, looking at the male visitor. The still life on the table was also substantially revised (Liedtke 2007). Thus, the implication is not that a visitor is expected, but that one—to judge from the open door and the disorderly array of objects on the table—has recently left the room.
The corner of a painting on the wall above the maid shows the leg of a Cupid and a theatrical mask. Similar paintings appear in other works by Vermeer, and may be based on a painting of Cupid (or Amor) listed in the 1676 inventory of the artist's estate. The mask may have been included in The Met's painting to suggest that love is here unmasked.
[2010; adapted from Liedtke 2007]
Inscription: Signed (left, above girl's head): I·VMeer· [VM in monogram]
?Pieter Claesz. van Ruijven, Delft (until d. 1674); ?his widow, Maria de Knuijt, Delft (1674–d. 1681); ?their daughter, Magdalena van Ruijven, Delft (1681–d. 1682); ?her widower, Jacob Abrahamsz. Dissius (1682–d. 1695; his estate sale, Amsterdam, May 16, 1696, no. 8, for fl. 62); John Waterloo Wilson, Paris (after 1873–1881; his sale, Paris, March 14–16, 1881, no. 116, to Sedelmeyer); [Sedelmeyer, Paris, 1881; sold to Kann]; Rodolphe Kann, Paris (1881–d. 1905; his estate, 1905–7; cat., 1907, vol. 1, no. 89; sold to Duveen); [Duveen, London, 1907–8; sold to Altman]; Benjamin Altman, New York (1908–d. 1913)
Art Gallery of the Corporation of London. "Works by Early and Modern Painters of the Dutch School," April 28–July 25, 1903, no. 188 (as "The Cook Asleep," lent by Monsieur X of Paris).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Hudson-Fulton Celebration," September–November 1909, no. 137A (as "Girl Sleeping").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art Treasures of the Metropolitan," November 7, 1952–September 7, 1953, no. 117.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Vermeer and the Delft School," March 8–May 27, 2001, no. 67.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 18, 2007–January 6, 2008, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Vermeer's Masterpiece 'The Milkmaid'," September 9–November 29, 2009, no. 6.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met," October 16, 2018–October 4, 2020, no catalogue.
THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT, BY TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.
Gerard Hoet. Catalogus of Naamlyst van Schilderyen, met derzelver pryzen, zedert een langen reeks van Jaaren zoo in Holland als op andere Plaatzen in het openbaar verkogt. Vol. 1, The Hague, 1752, p. 34, no. 8, calls the subject a drunken sleeping maid at a table, sold in Amsterdam for fl. 62 on May 16, 1696.
Charles Blanc. Histoire des peintres de toutes les écoles: École hollandaise. Paris, 1861, vol. 2, p. 4 of section on Vermeer.
W. Bürger [Théophile Thoré]. "Van der Meer de Delft (3e et dernier article)." Gazette des beaux-arts 21 (December 1866), p. 542, identifies no. 8 in the Amsterdam sale of 1696 [probably this picture] with a work in his own collection [later attributed to Esaias Boursse; Widener collection, Philadelphia].
"Les ventes d'art et de curiosité." L'art 24, part 1 (1881), p. 267, ill. opp. p. 264 (engraving), announces the Wilson sale and publishes Courtry's engraving of this picture, calling the subject a sleeping maidservant.
Henry Havard. Van der Meer de Delft. Paris, 1888, p. 39, no. 48, ill. p. 21 (engraving).
Pierre Petroz. "L'école hollandaise." L'art 48, part 1 (1890), ill. p. 175 (engraving).
Illustrated Catalogue of 300 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French, and English Schools. Paris, 1898, p. 104, no. 88, ill. p. 105, as in the Rodolphe Kann collection, Paris.
Wilhelm [von] Bode. Gemäldesammlung des Herrn Rudolf Kann in Paris. Vienna, 1900, p. III, pl. 13.
Wilhelm [von] Bode. Gemälde-Sammlung des Herrn Rudolf Kann in Paris. Vienna, 1900, p. X, ill. p. XI (gallery photograph).
Emile Michel. "La Galerie de M. Rodolphe Kann (1er article)." Gazette des beaux-arts, 3rd ser., 25 (May 1901), p. 393, as a young woman asleep.
Auguste Marguillier. "La collection de M. Rodolphe Kann." Les arts 2 (February 1903), p. 24, ill. p. 28.
"The Dutch Exhibition at the Guildhall: Article I.—The Old Masters." Burlington Magazine 2 (June 1903), p. 55, ill. p. 50, as "The Cook Asleep"; observes that little of Vermeer's characteristic technique is employed in the painting of the still life, but that it is nonetheless an authentic work.
Frank Rinder. "Jan Vermeer of Delft." Art-Journal (August 1904), p. 257, states that it was long "on offer to the authorities of the Cassel Gallery at a relatively small sum," but is now in the Kann collection.
C[ornelis]. Hofstede de Groot. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. Ed. Edward G. Hawke. Vol. 1, London, 1907, p. 589, no. 16, as "A Girl Asleep".
Catalogue of the Rodolphe Kann Collection: Pictures. Paris, 1907, vol. 1, pp. VI, 90, no. 89, ill. opp p. 90.
W[ilhelm]. Martin. "La Jeune fille à la flûte de Vermeer de Delft." L'art flamand & hollandais 8 (July 1907), p. 21, ill. opp. p. 22 [published in Dutch in Onze Kunst 12 (July 1907)].
Marcel Nicolle. "La Collection Rodolphe Kann." Revue de l'art ancien et moderne 23 (January–June 1908), p. 197.
Gustave Vanzype. Vermeer de Delft. Brussels, 1908, pp. 35, 93, ill. p. 29, states that it is without doubt the painting from the 1696 sale, rejecting Bürger's identification of no. 8 in the sale [probably our picture] with a work in his own collection; notes that it is presently in London.
Marcel Proust. Le Carnet de 1908. 1908 [published in Cahiers Marcel Proust, vol. 8, n.s., "Le Carnet de 1908," Philip Kolb, ed., Paris, 1976, p. 103].
Wilhelm R. Valentiner. The Hudson-Fulton Celebration: Catalogue of an Exhibition Held in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1909, vol. 1, p. 151, no. 137A, ill. opp. p. 151.
Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. Jan Vermeer of Delft and Carel Fabritius. Amsterdam, 1909, pp. 24, 26–27, 29, pl. 9.
Joseph Breck. "L'art hollandais à l'exposition Hudson-Fulton à New York." L'art flamand & hollandais 13, no. 2 (1910), p. 57 [published in Dutch in Onze Kunst 17 (February 1910), p. 41].
E[mil]. Waldmann. "Die Ausstellung Holländischer Gemälde des 17. Jahrhunderts in New York." Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, n.s., 21, no. 4 (1910), pp. 83–84, calls it contemporary with the Dresden "Letter Reader".
Alfred von Wurzbach. Niederländisches Künstler-Lexikon. Vol. 2, Vienna, 1910, p. 776.
Kenyon Cox. "Dutch Pictures in The Hudson-Fulton Exhibition—II." Burlington Magazine 16 (January 1910), p. 246, calls it by far the earliest of a group of four works (including "A Lady Writing," National Gallery of Art, Washington; "Young Woman with a Water Pitcher," MMA 89.15.21; and "Woman with a Lute," MMA 25.110.24) in the Hudson-Fulton exhibition.
C[ornelis]. Hofstede de Groot. "A Newly Discovered picture by Vermeer of Delft." Burlington Magazine 18 (December 1910), p. 133.
Jan Veth. "Gemälde von Johannes Vermeer." Kunst und Künstler 8 (1910), p. 113, ill. p. 114.
Eduard Plietzsch. Vermeer van Delft. Leipzig, 1911, pp. 29–31, 85, 118, no. 28, pl. IV
.
Jan Veth. Im Schatten alter Kunst. Berlin, 1911, p. 89.
William Bode. "More Spurious Pictures Abroad Than in America." New York Times (December 31, 1911), p. SM4.
Georges Dreyfous. L'oeuvre de Jan Vermeer de Delft dit Van Der Meer de Delft (1632–1675). Paris, 1912, pp. 18, 28.
"The Benjamin Altman Bequest." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 8 (November 1913), p. 236, ill. p. 230 (gallery shot).
Philip L. Hale. Jan Vermeer of Delft. Boston, 1913, pp. 239, 260–64, ill. opp. p. 174, states that "certain artists" reject the attribution to Vermeer on the basis of "heavy technique and color," and says that it gives the impression of being over-cleaned, but asserts its authenticity; dates it after a group of six early works.
Handbook of the Benjamin Altman Collection. New York, 1914, pp. 12–13, no. 7.
"The Altman Collection in the Metropolitan Museum, New York." Art and Progress 6 (January 1915), ill. p. 84.
Wilhelm von Bode. Die Meister der holländischen und vlämischen Malerschulen. Leipzig, 1917, p. 76.
A[lbert]. E[ugene]. Gallatin. "Vermeer of Delft." American Magazine of Art 8 (August 1917), pp. 385, 388.
P. Johansen. "Jan Vermeer de Delft." Oud-Holland 38 (1920), pp. 190, 195.
E. V. Lucas. Vermeer of Delft. London, [1922?], pp. 35, 37–38, 42, calls it "more like Maes than Vermeer".
François Monod. "La Galerie Altman au Metropolitan Museum de New-York (2e article)." Gazette des beaux-arts, 5th ser., 8 (November 1923), p. 310, ill. p. 309.
Wilhelm Hausenstein. Vermeer van Delft. Munich, 1924, p. 23, pl. 6.
Jean Chantavoine. Ver Meer De Delft. Paris, 1926, pp. 36, 64, 67–68, 83, 88, ill. p. 21, as an early work; erroneously as from the Johnson collection.
Handbook of the Benjamin Altman Collection. 2nd ed. New York, 1928, pp. 82–84, no. 44.
Wilhelm R. Valentiner. "Zum 300. Geburtstag Jan Vermeers, Oktober 1932: Vermeer und die Meister der holländischen Genremalerei." Pantheon 10 (October 1932), pp. 320–21, ill., dates it 1654, contemporary with "Diana and Her Companions" (Mauritshuis, The Hague) and "Christ in the House of Mary and Martha" (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh).
Arsène Alexandre. "Nouveaux aperçus sur Vermeer." L'art et les artistes, n.s., 25 (February 1933), ill. p. 148.
Hans Tietze. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935, p. 337, pl. 186 [English ed., "Masterpieces of European Painting in America," New York, 1939, p. 322, pl. 186].
Philip L. Hale. Vermeer. Boston, 1937, pp. 99, 106, 111–13, 120, pl. 11.
Alan Burroughs. Art Criticism from a Laboratory. Boston, 1938, pp. 106–7, figs. 30 (detail), 31 (shadowgraph detail).
Eduard Plietzsch. Vermeer van Delft. Munich, 1939, pp. 17, 49, 58, fig. 4.
A. B. de Vries. Jan Vermeer van Delft. Amsterdam, 1939, pp. 35–36, 78–79, no. 4, fig. 30, dates it about 1656.
Eduard Trautscholdt inAllgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler. Ed. Hans Vollmer. Vol. 34, Leipzig, 1940, p. 267.
Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941, unpaginated, no. 213, ill., dates it 1654–55.
"The Reopened Metropolitan Shows its Riches Anew." Art News 43 (June 1–30, 1944), p. 17, ill. on cover (color).
J[osephine]. L. A[llen]. "Notes on the Cover." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 3 (October 1944), inside front cover, ill., and color detail on cover, calls it "A Girl Asleep," refuting suggestions that the subject is a drunken domestic servant.
André Blum. Vermeer et Thoré-Bürger. Geneva, 1945, pp. 32, 59, 178, 197, no. 38, ill. between pp. 56 and 57 (overall and detail).
Elizabeth E. Gardner. "Thoré's Sphinx." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 7 (November 1948), pp. 76, 78, ill. p. 77, states that it was painted about the same time as the Dresden "Procuress" (1656).
A. B. de Vries. Jan Vermeer van Delft. London, 1948, pp. 33–34, 81, 105, pl. 4.
P. T. A. Swillens. Johannes Vermeer, Painter of Delft, 1632–1675. Utrecht, 1950, pp. 50, 57, 70, 78, 82, 85, 88, 104–5, no. 19, pl. 19, calls it "Sad Young Woman," rejecting suggestions that the figure is drunk or asleep; states that the style of headdress worn by the sitter came into use about 1640–50.
Art Treasures of the Metropolitan: A Selection from the European and Asiatic Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1952, p. 229, no. 117, colorpl. 117.
Lawrence Gowing. Vermeer. London, 1952, pp. 29, 36, 50–51, 88–92, no. III, pls. 6–7 (overall and detail).
André Malraux. Vermeer de Delft. Paris, 1952, pp. 42, 45, no. IV, ill. pp. 43–44 (color; overall and detail).
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 99.
Vitale Bloch. Tutta la pittura di Vermeer di Delft. Milan, 1954, p. 30, pls. 9–11 (overall and details) [English ed., New York, 1963], dates it 1655–60.
Theodore Rousseau Jr. "A Guide to the Picture Galleries." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 12, part 2 (January 1954), p. 3, ill. p. 33.
Michal Walicki. Vermeer. Warsaw, 1956, p. 22, pls. 8–9 (overall and detail), dates it about 1656.
Ludwig Goldscheider. Jan Vermeer: The Paintings. London, 1958, pp. 23–24, 133–34, no. 3, colorpl. 8 and pls. 9–10 (details), calls it "Sleeping Girl," but acknowledges Swillens's identification [see Ref. 1950] of the girl as a grieving figure; suggests that Vermeer's wife served as the model.
Neil MacLaren. The Dutch School. London, 1960, p. 229, under no. 207.
J[ohan]. Q[uirijn]. van Regteren Altena. "Een jeugdwerk van Johannes Vermeer." Oud-Holland 75 (1960), pp. 179, 184, 194, dates it after 1654.
A[lbert]. P. de Mirimonde. "Les sujets musicaux chez Vermeer de Delft." Gazette des beaux-arts, 6th ser., 57 (January 1961), p. 40.
Lawrence Gowing. Johannes Vermeer. London, 1961, pp. 7–12, 14, 29, no. 43, pl. 43.
H[enry]. [A.] L[a]. F[arge]. "Rugs of the Masters." Art News 60 (October 1961), p. 44, fig. 2.
Jakob Rosenberg and Seymour Slive inDutch Art and Architecture: 1600 to 1800. Baltimore, 1966, p. 119, pl. 90A.
Jean Paris. "Vermeer et ses personnages prisonniers de leurs rêves." Connaissance des arts 176 (October 1966), fig. 8 (color).
Piero Bianconi inL'opera completa di Vermeer. Milan, 1967, p. 88, no. 7, ill. p. 88 and colorpls. XIII–XVI (overall and details) [English ed., 1970, pp. 88–89, no. 7, ill. p. 88 and colorpls. XIII–XVI (overall and details)].
Horst Gerson inEncyclopedia of World Art. Vol. 14, New York, 1967, col. 741, colorpl. 333.
Nathan Knobler. The Visual Dialogue. New York, [1967], p. 41, colorpl. 15.
Hans Koningsberger. The World of Vermeer, 1632–1675. New York, 1967, pp. 8–9, 14–15, 100, 147–48, ill.
Seymour Slive. "'Een Dronke Slapende Meyd aen een Tafel' by Jan Vermeer." Festschrift Ulrich Middeldorf. Berlin, 1968, text vol., pp. 452–59; plate vol., pl. CXCIII, fig. 1, pl. CXCIV, fig. 5 (detail), pl. CXCVI, fig. 11 (etching), summarizes earlier interpretations of the picture, and suggests that the figure has "a closer connection to the wine glasses and wine jug on the table . . . than to the fragment of the painting of Cupid on the wall"
.
Theodore Rousseau. "The Stylistic Detection of Forgeries." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 26 (February 1968), p. 248, fig. 5 (detail).
Franklin W. Robinson. "Gabriel Metsu, 1629–1667." PhD diss., Harvard University, 1970, p. 113, suggests that this picture influenced Metsu's composition of the same subject (art market, Berlin, 1933).
Calvin Tomkins. Merchants and Masterpieces: The Story of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1970, pp. 171–73 [rev., enl. ed., 1989].
Francis Haskell. "The Benjamin Altman Bequest." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970), pp. 265, 279–80.
Madlyn Millner Kahr. "Vermeer's Girl Asleep." Metropolitan Museum Journal 6 (1972), pp. 115–132, ill. (overall, detail, and x-ray details), examines the iconography, concluding that the painting is a representation of sloth and conveys a moral admonition to "be alert to avoid the snares of sensual pleasures".
Jakob Rosenberg and Seymour Slive inDutch Art and Architecture: 1600 to 1800. rev. ed. Harmondsworth, England, 1972, pp. 195–96, fig. 143.
John Walsh Jr. "Vermeer." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 31 (Summer 1973), unpaginated, fig. 19 (color), dates it 1656–57.
Hubert von Sonnenburg. "Technical Comments." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 31 (Summer 1973), unpaginated, figs. 88 (color detail), 95 (x-ray detail), publishes x-rays revealing Vermeer's changes to the original composition.
[Jean Mistler]. Vermeer. [Paris], [1973], unpaginated, ill. (color).
Franklin W. Robinson. Gabriel Metsu (1629–1667): A Study of His Place in Dutch Genre Painting of the Golden Age. New York, 1974, p. 49.
Ernst Günther Grimme. Jan Vermeer van Delft. Cologne, 1974, pp. 24, 29, 102, no. 4, ill., and fig. 2.
Albert Blankert, Rob Ruurs, and Willem L. van de Watering. Johannes Vermeer van Delft, 1632–1675. Utrecht, 1975, pp. 17, 43–44, 109, 115 n. 35, pp. 139–40, 159, no. 4, colorpl. 4 [English ed., "Vermeer of Delft," Oxford, 1978, pp. 13, 28–29, 73, 76 n. 46, pp. 156, 167, no. 4, pls. 4a, 4b (details), colorpl. 4].
Edward Fowles. Memories of Duveen Brothers. London, 1976, p. 40.
Christopher Wright. Vermeer. London, 1976, pp. 8, 22, 75–76, 81–83, pl. 4, ill. p. 23 (detail).
Tot Lering en Vermaak: Betekenissen van Hollandse genrevoorstellingen uit de zeventiende eeuw. Exh. cat., Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam, 1976, p. 81 n. 4, p. 146, fig. 33b.
Evert van Straaten. Johannes Vermeer, 1632–1675: Een Delfts schilder en de cultuur van zijn tijd. The Hague, 1977, pp. 25, 27, figs. 25, 38.
Eric [M.] Zafran. "Letter from New England: Cherchez la Femme." Apollo 108 (September 1978), p. 201, notes that Cézanne's "Young Italian Girl" (Rosenthal collection) derives from this picture, known to the artist when it was in Parisian collections in the 1880s and 1890s.
Anneliese Mayer-Meintschel. "Die Briefleserin von Jan Vermeer van Delft—zum Inhalt und zur Geschichte des Bildes." Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden 11 (1978/79), p. 98 n. 14.
Howard Hibbard. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1980, p. 345, fig. 622 (color), dates it probably 1657.
Lennart Seth. "Vermeer och van Veens 'Amorum Emblemata'." Konsthistorisk Tidskrift 49 (June 1980), pp. 19, 37 n. 13, p. 38, fig. 3, rejects interpretations of the picture as a warning against drunkenness or sloth, but suggests that the girl is dreaming of true love.
Erik de Jong [sic for E. de Jongh?]. Een schilderij centraal: De Slapende Mars van Hendrick ter Brugghen. Exh. cat., Centraal Museum. Utrecht, 1980, p. 8, fig. 9.
Otto Naumann. Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder. Doornspijk, 1981, vol. 1, p. 51 n. 11, p. 53 n. 25, considers it contemporaneous with De Hooch's courtyard scenes of 1658.
Leonard J. Slatkes. Vermeer and His Contemporaries. New York, 1981, p. 24, ill. p. 25 (color).
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. Jan Vermeer. New York, 1981, p. 74, colorpl. 6.
Andreas Hauser. "Allegorischer Realismus: zur Ikono-logik von Vermeers 'Messkünstler'." Städel-Jahrbuch, n.s., 8 (1981), p. 195, fig. 10 (detail).
Maryan W. Ainsworth et al. Art and Autoradiography: Insights into the Genesis of Paintings by Rembrandt, Van Dyck, and Vermeer. New York, 1982, pp. 18–26, 102, pls. 6 (overall), 7 (x-radiograph), 8–10 (autoradiographs), 7a, 8a, 10a (x-ray and autoradiograph details).
David R. Smith. "Review of Naumann 1981." Art Bulletin 65 (December 1983), p. 698 n. 11.
Christopher Brown. Images of a Golden Past: Dutch Genre Painting of the 17th Century. New York, 1984, p. 48, ill. p. 26 (color).
Peter C. Sutton inMasters of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Genre Painting. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1984, p. LIV.
Martin Pops. Vermeer: Consciousness and the Chamber of Being. Ann Arbor, Mich., 1984, pp. 21, 41–42, 68, 96, 98–99, 105 n. 31, figs. 12–13 (overall and diagram).
Peter C. Sutton. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Grand Rapids, Mich., 1986, pp. 189–90, fig. 269.
Gilles Aillaud, Albert Blankert, and John Michael Montias. Vermeer. Paris, 1986, pp. 40, 51, 72, 90, 92–93, 172–73, 208, 224, no. 4, colorpl. IV, fig. 50 (detail) [English ed., 1988, pp. 40, 51, 72, 90, 92, 172–73, 212, 223, no. 4, colorpl. 4, fig. 50 (detail)], identify it with a work included in an Amsterdam sale of 1737 as a sleeping woman, by Vermeer, sold to Carpi.
Bärbel Hedinger. Karten in Bildern: Zur Ikonographie der Wandkarte in holländischen Interieurgemälden des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts. Hildesheim, 1986, p. 94.
Arthur K. Wheelock. "Pentimenti in Vermeer's Paintings: Changes in Style and Meaning." Holländische Genremalerei im 17. Jahrhundert. Ed. Henning Bock and Thomas W. Gaehtgens. Berlin, 1987, p. 410.
Simon Schama. The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age. New YorK, 1987, p. 208.
Patrik Reuterswärd. "Vermeer. Ett försvar för ögats vittnesbörd." Konsthistorisk Tidskrift 57, no. 2 (1988), pp. 55, 58–59, fig. 1.
John Michael Montias. Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History. Princeton, 1989, pp. 134–35, 146, 149–52, 182, 191–92, 248, 265, fig. 25.
Walter Liedtke. "Dutch Paintings in America: The Collectors and Their Ideals." Great Dutch Paintings from America. Exh. cat., Mauritshuis, The Hague. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 1990, p. 48, fig. 36 (Altman gallery installation).
Arthur K. Wheelock inOpus Sacrum. Ed. Józef Grabski. Exh. cat., Royal Castle, Warsaw. Vienna, 1990, p. 276, fig. 4.
John Nash. Vermeer. London, 1991, pp. 24, 46, 54, 56–62, 79, 125–26, ill. pp. 18–19, 55, 57 (color, overall and details).
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. inJan Vermeer van Delft (1632–1675): Saint Praxedis. Exh. cat., Wawel Castle, Cracow. Vienna, 1991, p. 17, figs. 14–15 (overall and x-ray detail), identifies the sitter with the model for "St. Praxedis" (Johnson collection, Princeton).
Walter Liedtke. "Vermeer sin egen läromästare." Rembrandt och hans Tid: Människan i Centrum. Exh. cat., Nationalmuseum. Stockholm, 1992, pp. 96, 99–101, 105 nn. 50, 52, 53, 55, fig. 5 [reprinted in Wayne E. Franits, ed., "The Cambridge Companion to Vermeer," Cambridge, 2001, pp. 32, 34, 37–38, pl. 5].
Ben Broos. Intimacies & Intrigues: History Painting in the Mauritshuis. The Hague, 1993, p. 313, fig. 6.
Celeste Brusati. Johannes Vermeer. New York, 1993, unpaginated, colorpl. 3.
Daniel Arasse. L'Ambition de Vermeer. Paris, 1993, pp. 29, 61–64, 66, 70, 143, 146–47, 150, 184 n. 8, p. 185 n. 15, p. 192 nn. 2, 6, fig. 12 [English ed., "Vermeer, Faith in Painting," Princeton, 1994, pp. 17, 29–31, 33, 36, 60, 63, 66, 109 nn. 8, 15, p. 118 nn. 2, 6, fig. 12].
Peter L. Donhauser. "A Key to Vermeer?" Artibus et Historiae no. 27 (1993), pp. 85–101, figs. 1–2 (overall and radiograph).
Edward Snow. A Study of Vermeer. rev., enl. ed. Berkeley, 1994, pp. xii, 40, 51, 57–58, 60–61, 91–92, 103–4, 123, 146, 148, 150, 152, 186–88 nn. 20, 21, 24, p. 192 n. 8, p. 198 n. 14, pp. 208–9 n. 5, pp. 212–13 nn. 13, 17, 26, colorpls. 25, 26 (detail), 56 (detail), pl. 71 (x-ray detail).
Seymour Slive. Dutch Painting 1600–1800. New Haven, 1995, pp. 143, 334 n. 10, fig. 183.
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and Ben Broos inJohannes Vermeer. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1995, pp. 88, 108, 180.
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. inJohannes Vermeer. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1995, pp. 20, 24, 29 n. 44, fig. 6 (color).
Albert Blankert inJohannes Vermeer. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1995, pp. 35–36.
Ben Broos inJohannes Vermeer. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1995, pp. 58–59, 65 nn. 87, 88, 89, as purchased by Paillet in a Paris sale of 1811.
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. Vermeer & the Art of Painting. New Haven, 1995, pp. 27, 31, 39–47, 55, 59–60, 164, figs. 20 (color), 21 (x-radiograph), 27–28 (color details), A5.
Jørgen Wadum inJohannes Vermeer. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1995, pp. 74, 77.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 334, ill., as "A Maid Asleep".
Erik Larsen. Jan Vermeer: Catalogo completo. Florence, 1996, pp. 13, 31, 95, no. 1, ill. p. 39 (color), dates it about 1653–54.
Flavia Rando. "Vermeer, Jane Gallop, and the Other/Woman." Art Journal 55 (Winter 1996), p. 39, fig. 2.
Christiane Hertel. Vermeer: Reception and Interpretation. Cambridge, 1996, pp. 57, 109, fig. 27.
G. J. de Rook. "Delfts Aardewerk uit de Tijd van Vermeer." Antiek 30 (March 1996), p. 392, fig. 1 (color).
Lyckle de Vries. "Review of Wheelock 1995." Burlington Magazine 138 (March 1996), p. 201, doubts Wheelock's assertion that the woman is melancholy, not drunk.
Wayne Franits inThe Dictionary of Art. Ed. Jane Turner. Vol. 32, New York, 1996, pp. 262, 267.
Lillian B. Miller inThe Dictionary of Art. Ed. Jane Turner. Vol. 1, New York, 1996, p. 731.
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. Vermeer: The Complete Works. New York, 1997, pp. 8, 16, colorpl. 5 and fig. 15 (radiograph).
Jane ten Brink Goldsmith inDutch Art: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Sheila D. Muller. New York, 1997, p. 433.
Ger Luijten inMirror of Everyday Life: Genreprints in the Netherlands 1550–1700. Exh. cat., Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam, 1997, pp. 370, 372 n. 10, fig. 6.
Leonard J. Slatkes. "Utrecht and Delft: Vermeer and Caravaggism." Vermeer Studies. Ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Washington, 1998, p. 88 n. 5.
Nicola Costaras. "A Study of the Materials and Tecniques of Johannes Vermeer." Vermeer Studies. Ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Washington, 1998, pp. 157, 165, 167.
Jørgen Wadum. "Contours of Vermeer." Vermeer Studies. Ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Washington, 1998, pp. 204, 213–14, 222 n. 61, fig. 3.
Marieke de Winkel. "The Interpretation of Dress in Vermeer's Paintings." Vermeer Studies. Ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Washington, 1998, pp. 328–29, fig. 1 (detail).
Ivan Gaskell. "Valuing Vemeer." Vermeer Studies. Ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Washington, 1998, p. 14.
J. M. Nash. "'To finde the Mindes construction in the Face'." Vermeer Studies. Ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Washington, 1998, p. 59.
Koos Levy-van Halm. "Where Did Vermeer Buy His Painting Materials? Theory and Practice." Vermeer Studies. Ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Washington, 1998, p. 140.
Ivan Gaskell. "Vermeer and the Limits of Interpretation." Vermeer Studies. Ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Washington, 1998, pp. 229–30.
Nanette Salomon. "From Sexuality to Civility: Vermeer's Women." Vermeer Studies. Ed. Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker. Washington, 1998, pp. 309, 316–18, figs. 2, 10 (radiograph).
Nanette Salomon. Jacob Duck and the Gentrification of Dutch Genre Painting. Doornspijk, The Netherlands, 1998, pp. 98–103, figs. 94–95 (overall and x-ray detail), states that it "belongs to the same process of 'normalizing' and gentrifying the female figure in an interior" as works by Jacob Duck.
Jean Strouse. Morgan: American Financier. New York, 1999, p. 611 n.
Nanette Salomon. "Vermeer's Women: Shifting Paradigms in Midcareer." The Practice of Cultural Analysis: Exposing Interdisciplinary Interpretation. Ed. Mieke Bal. Stanford, 1999, pp. 45–46, 51–54, 353 n. 10, figs. 2–3 (overall and composite x-ray) [reprinted in "Shifting Priorities: Gender and Genre in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting," Stanford, 2004, pp. 108–9, 112–13, 139 n. 19, figs. 92–93 (overall and composite x-ray)].
Christian Huemer. "Charles Sedelmeyer (1837–1925): Kunst und Spekulation am Kunstmarkt in Paris." Belvedere 2 (1999), p. 17, fig. 12.
Ivan Gaskell. Vermeer's Wager: Speculations on Art History, Theory and Art Museums. London, 2000, pp. 50–51, 177, fig. 11.
Walter Liedtke. A View of Delft: Vermeer and his Contemporaries. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 2000, pp. 37, 51, 148, 163, 170, 176, 188–89, 191, 194, 201–5, 209, 211, 219, 235–36, 269 n. 75, p. 286 nn. 96, 97, 100, p. 287 n. 103, p. 288 nn. 145, 15, p. 291 n. 113, colorpl. XX, figs. 261–62 (overall and detail).
H. Perry Chapman. "Women in Vermeer's Home: Mimesis and Ideation." Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 51 (2000), p. 269 n. 22, p. 270 n. 47.
Walter Liedtke et al. Vermeer and the Delft School. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2001, pp. 17, 117, 125, 150–52, 155–57, 166, 220, 228, 362, 366, 369–72, 377–78, 384, 386 n. 12, p. 399, no. 67, ill. (color), fig. 280 (radiograph detail).
Wayne E. Franits inThe Cambridge Companion to Vermeer. Ed. Wayne E. Franits. Cambridge, 2001, pp. 12, 14, 185 n. 36, p. 187 n. 77, pl. 5.
Philip Steadman. Vermeer's Camera. Oxford, 2001, pp. 62, 168–69.
Christiane Hertel. "Seven Vermeers." The Cambridge Companion to Vermeer. Ed. Wayne E. Franits. Cambridge, 2001, p. 152.
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and Marguerite Glass. "The Appreciation of Vermeer in Twentieth-Century America." The Cambridge Companion to Vermeer. Ed. Wayne E. Franits. Cambridge, 2001, p. 168.
Anthony Bailey. Vermeer: A View of Delft. New York, 2001, pp. 83–86, 97, ill. p. 84.
Lisa Vergara. "Perspectives on Women in the Art of Vermeer." The Cambridge Companion to Vermeer. Ed. Wayne E. Franits. Cambridge, 2001, p. 68.
H. Rodney Nevitt Jr. "Vermeer on the Question of Love." The Cambridge Companion to Vermeer. Ed. Wayne E. Franits. Cambridge, 2001, pp. 203–4 nn. 58–59.
Bryan Jay Wolf. Vermeer and the Invention of Seeing. Chicago, 2001, pp. 150–52, 274 n. 6, fig. 56.
Martha Hollander. An Entrance for the Eyes: Space and Meaning in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art. Berkeley, 2002, pp. 97–98, 100–102, 214–15 nn. 60, 69–71, colorpl. 4 and fig. 45 (autoradiograph).
Alejandro Vergara. Vermeer y el interior holandés. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 30, 56 n. 16, pp. 206, 216 n. 16, fig. 18 (color).
Mariët Westermann inVermeer y el interior holandés. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2003, pp. 73, 79, 87, 224, 227, 231.
Louis Livadhiotis. Unpublished article. 2003, pp. 1–42, identifies objects and animal figures in the patterning and folds of the table coverings and in the reflection in the roemer glass, citing the images as a means of interpreting the picture.
Christiane Hertel. "Review of Gaskell 2000, Hollander 2002, and Wolf 2001." Art Bulletin 85 (September 2003), pp. 611, 614, 616.
Peter C. Sutton inLove Letters: Dutch Genre Paintings in the Age of Vermeer. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. Greenwich, Conn., 2003, p. 186, under no. 38 bis.
Robert D. Huerta. Giants of Delft: Johannes Vermeer and the Natural Philosophers . . . Lewisburg, Pa., 2003, pp. 47, 49–51, 66, 92, 94, 103.
Mariët Westermann. Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675). Zwolle, The Netherlands, 2004, p. 18, fig. 11 (color).
Meryle Secrest. Duveen: A Life in Art. New York, 2004, p. 498.
Marlies Giebe inJohannes Vermeer: "Bei der Kupplerin". Ed. Uta Neidhardt and Marlies Giebe. Exh. cat., Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. Dresden, 2004, pp. 42, 56, ill. (color, overall and detail).
Mirjam Neumeister inSenses and Sins: Dutch Painters of Daily Life in the Seventeenth Century. Ed. Jeroen Giltaij. Exh. cat., Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany, 2004, p. 178, fig. 2.
León Krempel. Holländische Gemälde im Städel 1550–1800. Vol. 2, Künstler geboren 1615 bis 1630. Petersberg, Germany, 2005, p. 66.
Epco Runia and Peter van der Ploeg. Vermeer in the Mauritshuis. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 2005, ill. p. 24 (color), illustrates it as among works from the 1696 Dissius sale.
Walter Liedtke. "Gerard de Lairesse and Jacob de Wit 'in situ'." The Learned Eye: Regarding Art, Theory, and the Artist's Reputation: Essays for Ernst van de Wetering. Ed. Marieke van den Doel et al. Amsterdam, 2005, pp. 192, 202 n. 6.
Robert D. Huerta. Vermeer and Plato: Painting the Ideal. Lewisburg, Pa., 2005, pp. 37, 54, 98.
Alan Chong. "Jacob Ochtervelt's Rotterdam Patron." In His Milieu: Essays on Netherlandish Art in Memory of John Michael Montias. Ed. A[my]. Golahny et al. Amsterdam, 2006, p. 101.
Yoriko Kobayashi-Sato. "Vermeer and His Thematic Use of Perspective." In His Milieu: Essays on Netherlandish Art in Memory of John Michael Montias. Ed. A[my]. Golahny et al. Amsterdam, 2006, p. 216.
Frank Wynne. I Was Vermeer: The Rise and Fall of the Twentieth Century's Greatest Forger. New York, 2006, pp. 117, 261.
Esmée Quodbach. "The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 65 (Summer 2007), pp. 28, 31–32, 34–35, 70, figs. 32 (Altman gallery photograph), 35 (color).
Walter Liedtke. Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, vol. 1, pp. ix–x, 263 n. 5, pp. 355, 430; vol. 2, p. 797 n. 10, pp. 867–77, 880, no. 202, colorpl. 202, figs. 250 (x-radiograph), 251 (sixth autoradiograph detail).
Pierre Le Coz and Pierre-Éric Laroche. Vermeer ou l'action de voir. Brussels, 2007, pp. 57, 91, 93, 112, ill. p. 92.
Peter C. Sutton. Vermeer and the Delft Style. Exh. cat., Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. [Tokyo], 2008, pp. 62–66, 72, 74, figs. 4 (color), 5 (x-ray detail).
Walter Liedtke. Vermeer: The Complete Paintings. Antwerp, 2008, pp. 17, 20–22, 27, 29–30, 32, 36, 38–40, 43, 57, 59, 64, 66–69, 71–72, 75–76, 120, 156, 158, 193–94, no. 4, ill. (color, overall and detail) and figs. 17, 20 (color details), 4b (radiograph detail).
Jonathan Lopez. The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren. Orlando, Fla., 2008, p. 121.
Walter Liedtke. "The Milkmaid" by Johannes Vermeer. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2009, pp. 12–13, 17–20, 26, 29–31, no. 6, colorpl. 6.
Karen Rosenberg. "A Humble Domestic Crosses the Sea." New York Times (September 11, 2009), p. C29.
Leo J. O'Donovan. "An Eternal Now: Vermeer at the Met." Commonweal 136 (October 23, 2009), p. 26, ill. (color).
Kathleen Eagen Johnson. The Hudson-Fulton Celebration: New York's River Festival of 1909 and the Making of a Metropolis. Tarrytown, N.Y., 2009, ill. p. 113 (color).
Nils Büttner. Vermeer. Munich, 2010, p. 67, fig. 22 (color).
H. Perry Chapman inVermeer's Women: Secrets and Silence. Exh. cat., Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. New Haven, 2011, pp. 79, 99–100, 121 n. 18, colorpls. 63–64 (overall and detail).
Walter Liedtke inVermeer: il secolo d'oro dell'arte olandese. Exh. cat., Scuderie del Quirinale. Milan, 2012, p. 55, fig. 20 (color).
Old Master & British Paintings: Evening Sale. Christie's, London. July 8, 2014, p. 144, fig. 5 (color detail), under no. 39.
Walter B. Denny. How to Read Islamic Carpets. New York, 2014, p. 135, fig. 124 (color).
Adriaan E. Waiboer inVermeer et les maîtres de la peinture de genre. Exh. cat., Musée du Louvre. Paris, 2017, p. 26, fig. 3 (color).
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. inVermeer et les maîtres de la peinture de genre. Exh. cat., Musée du Louvre. Paris, 2017, pp. 62, 64.
Marjorie E. Wieseman inVermeer et les maîtres de la peinture de genre. Exh. cat., Musée du Louvre. Paris, 2017, p. 112 n. 27.
E. Melanie Gifford, Lisha Deming Glinsman, and Samantha French inVermeer et les maîtres de la peinture de genre. Exh. cat., Musée du Louvre. Paris, 2017, p. 436.
Diana J. Kostyrko. The Journal of a Transatlantic Art Dealer: René Gimpel 1918–1939. London, 2017, p. 84 n. 35.
Marco M. Mascolo. "Benjamin Altman’s Loans to the 1909 Hudson-Fulton Exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Burlington Magazine 160 (April 2018), pp. 306–10, fig. 6 (color).
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