people have been fascinated by the enigmatic paintings of yon vermeer. his works have long defied definitive interpretation. and that has made the artist the subject of highly contentious debates among the world's art scholars in dresden, a well funded team of internationally renowned for mere experts got to work using cutting edge technology. they got remarkable results. what started out as the restoration of a single painting, as led to the radical transformation of an iconic image. it was the art historical equivalent of open heart surgery. the removal of a layer of paint revealed a cupid and provided plenty of food for thought of in a truly you have this iconic painting that is imprinted itself in our collective consciousness. now, it's no longer there. it's been replaced by another painting after the death

because as far as wins offenses for removing the pains his tons amounts to a rising history by moto vic named to put that on. if we have the names here of individuals who may have painted over the mayor, tom, ah, are you one of those who are attracted by the unknown and unrecognized? are you curious about mystery in reality? about shadow and light? the 2 extremes of both art and life at the museum in the hague, a suit pub, and utterly unique painting stops all visitors in their tracks and makes a lasting impression on artists and connoisseurs alike. it's the view of the town of belt by young von the mia. these are the words of the man who rediscovered vermeer in 18. 65. in the nearly 2 centuries after the painter's death, his work had fallen into obscurity. we don't know

a lot about from here he is known as the sphinx of dell because we know so little about his life. had he lived in delft, which is a town in the netherlands and he had lots of children more than 10 children. so how he got time to paint, i don't know known as yawn or yo harness. vermeer is the most famous son of dealt the city where he spent his entire life. he was born here in 1632. an era later called the dutch golden age. a time of unprecedented prosperity for the netherlands when the arts and sciences flourished along with international trade in total. yon vermeer as a legacy amounts to just 37 paintings. but each of them is a masterpiece and guaranteed ticket seller for any exhibition. all of them were produced in delphi. vermeer lived on volta scoffed for many years,

right around the corner from the st. lucas artists guild, of which he was a member. he moved homes just once and thus lived his whole life within a radius of 100 meters. to day that tiny patch of dell draws premier fans from around the world. vermeer only ever painted to exterior views. the rest of his works depict interiors. the outside world is present only in the light that pours in through lead glass windows. premier's compositions are a camera obscura, in the truest sense, darkened chambers with light entering from one solitary point. space is characterized by a feeling of intimacy and concealment. they arouse in the viewer and urge to unravel a mystery. his paintings are a 3 dimensional experience. ah, vermeer conjured up fleeting moments with

a power that enthralls no adherent of strict realism, he frequently changed the scale and form of objects. many of his pictorial elements were inspired by the well to do homes of the burgeoning middle class. ah, the perspective geometry of the floor tops items from every day life, an artist with an imagination that opened up new horizons and from ears very particular palette of colors which hailed in part from more exotic lines. and this is the blue pigment, called indigo. that would have come from faraway either in asia or from the west indies. this is a yellow pigment called weld, that is made from a plant that probably grew in the netherlands. and when these 2 colors were mixed together, it would have made a transparent green. ah, a new style of painting, incorporating the technological marbles of the time. john premier's friendship with

a lens grinder from dell, introduced him to optical innovations like the camera obscura. in premier's imagination, the camera obscura was like the i, it's lens, the pupil. it's screen the retina, a pete box that cast images on to the wall. this was also the dawn of a new age in art, one that build a vacuum. a 100 years after the reformations, destructive iconoclasm. in 1566 protestant iconoclast christians, who saw depictions of religious figures as blasphemous, destroyed paintings in churches across dealt ah, they also rebelled against the curtains that had traditionally been draped across the churches. holiest and most revered paintings to protect them from the masses.

ah, the painted curtain would eventually become a motif in its own right. deployed once again by various dutch painters in the mid 17th, sent. ah, as a inbounds via the 8 is rembrandt, was the 1st to paint the frame complete with kersin. right into the pitch up in the spilled he, 9 of and then this is east alpha there vandal from m. so the exterior curtain now becomes a motif i am built motif via an illusionary trick called tom loy, literally meaning deception of the i. i know, and that is i, you could also see it is us. the view is being deceived, terry matter valley, because we see the image of a curtain which invites us to try and see behind it. van un site basin,

seen swan keith. but that desire to see more about what's hidden behind the curtain is not just about some of the world view or a view from a window. vales or i'm friends, thous fleet from wanton. so and then meet metaphorically. it's about wanting to see more through the medium of art in beers on, on funder my leg. i pay it can be interpreted as the genesis of ours appreciation. be powerful. i'm out there constantly. power i 15, at the peak of the golden age, dutch artists were producing $70000.00 paintings a year. a prolific rate, unprecedented in the history of art does positions and it's very apt for the 17th century, more a time when concepts of time and space were being revolutionized. wandering idle up to that point, it if the world was considered to be in gods,

hands and pre determined mia, it's for it's in the 17th century, people began to see themselves as self determining style can call me john ramirez. paintings are and remain, superbly devised invitations to explore new worlds. ah, for mrs. this toddler, allison food, what i love about this painting is that it's such a small room, but the longer you look at it, the more expensive the room becomes are it opens up. it is a hallmark after it says this early work from $1657.00 already incorporates premier's core elements. the use of light, the transient moment, the suggestion of a narrative, ah, pushed it. it's aux, you'll fancy in imagination, manners. suddenly you're in a different world and just as the woman really is in another world, ah,

one of various worlds brought to life by johan as premier. busy interiors where the 4th wall is cast aside. as premier gives us moments of intimacy for the ages. lou and yet for a time for mirrors work was forgotten until a re discovery in dresden augustus the 3rd king of poland, an elector of saxony, military commander, and one of the greatest art patrons of his time. a man with visionary plans,

they included the creation of an art gallery, so grand, all of europe would hear of it. the clinic is stopped by to some the king had a series of paintings ready for the connection. on initially, they were housed in what were still in the 17th century by the royal stables. it in zips in yelled at us. i'm saying this is whether the mer to galleria was established or the connecticut harrington english did that of it. the royal gallery essentially became a proton museum, a temple of art open to all a presentation of his majesty's good taste or bonn, goof, the monarch as arbiter,

deciding which works well worthy of display. i was that though gus is the 3rd was a real connoisseur. and he took an active interest in painting and was directly involved in the acquisitions. he made the tie leash while though the major hubs of the fine art trade were some distance away. the 17th century saw a veritable frenzy of art collecting both in italy and france, and especially in paris. on the flourishing french market. the principal buyers were cardinals, royalty the aristocracy, the clergy and monasteries purchasing by a correspondence with their agents on the spot. collectors hosted the 1st public exhibitions of contemporary art by the 18th century auctions

were already playing a major role in paris. art dealer's 1st began to emerge. old documents paint a vivid picture of how augustus was able to build up his unique collection. carrying on pets ish. the mysteries from saxony dispatched an alert to twistin about the impending sale of an important connection with a coughed, dutch, and flemish artists were producing paintings of the highest quality. but augustus, as agents and paris were after something else. the prized collection of victor amadeus, the 1st of savoy, the prince of colony. all eyes is obscene of island. when the prince of karen yano died in france in 1741. the chief concern for augustus was his collection of italian paintings. which is why he sent his agent to paris again,

not bobby's. the market was a highly competitive one. with the kings of france and portugal, among the bidders. augustus employed a range of art savvy experts and the flemish conservatory. in total, he managed to acquire 30 paintings from the colony, all collection spending a fortune in the process. when julia tube he stood, we can see here which paintings from the famous prince of carrion yano collection went from paris to saxony or on the handle as hoped. and the most prominent among them was a gift beat isis in my 80. denise powder, sure to mushy. as meaning granted on top of the trade, so

a present to shakes. ah, don't renew good. deb roku 6 in all social law as wandered in. among the many paintings received by your excellency e one is i rembrandt get designs from the him. pont looks his aunt all engine c t. v said he jennifer nick. thus i was depicting a young girl reading across from a window on his fence to us. please ah, ah, this man wilmington is being mistaken for rembrandt. it is due solely to the painted curtain. the curtain was the key elements of the masterpiece. busy busy

an invitation to take a closer look at the scene. this means that by adding a painted curtain i, rembrandt was declaring this painting of his he's as to be a masterpiece. i my fish trick backlog here. this isn't good. thank and. and it was a gift to a friend, one vet, so it had to be valuable while henderson. and he was the most celebrated dutch painter, rembrandt. linus off. and that for me is the reason why this painting, which was obviously very valuable, ended up going to twist in as a rembrandt to comp. i think of a different i'm pump. ah, so after being given the list of paintings, the king said, i want that one, that one and that one. then he told is cheap emissary in paris to verify an essential question. authenticity. transportation was another issue

with the wet autumn weather create problems. what about the temperature? and could the paintings be rolled up and a cylinder? eventually the paintings from the colony on collection arrived in dresden. there they were soon put on display in the king's new museum. ah, one picture was kept from public view. the one given to the king as a present. the girl reading a letter was placed in the king's chambers. the painting was now part of an exclusive and illustrious group, one that included the very best of dutch painting. a privileged position

shrouded in mystery. it was hidden away in the private rooms of the ruler of saxony and poland, measuring $83.00 by $64.00 and a half centimeters. this every day, seen by a dutch master graced the king's cabinet room. this cabinets, it being an integral part of the palace. his ceremonial apartments, access to the cappy night was obviously restricted a room where the king could retreat, screening alone or with guesses to contemplate his paintings her at pleasure, uncooked on the paintings. there were almost exclusively dutch and flemish works depicting generic seals in barstow. it's a constructed intimacy, intimidated. busy

ah, on the ticket is a spirit mom entering this picture is not straightforward for you 1st have to go past the curtain, then across the rug pick. and sub me there you are. mando now your parts of event. so she ends, although events is almost incorrect as nothing is actually happening. there is no story handle. busy ah, all you see, is this woman completely absorbed in what she's doing? oh, what might she be reading? her concentrated face is reflected in the window. oh, how does this woman feel imprisoned or free like the world beyond her window questions that retain their fascination to this day? by 1765, the painting had left the king's private rooms and could now be seen in dresden cml

da godaddy. busy busy t chris logan ada godaddy. is thee camille, the gal that he and i easton is on par with the leuva in terms of the quality of the paintings at this time. this was also true in the 18th century life from rural . but brown says, your own collection in the louvre was completely inaccessible to the public. at this time a singing mitten a hit when placed in his command. a gallery opened in 1740 sacks. can any one whitish, any artist, student with all bank capital? and we know this from the visit to reco dixon. it could go inside india, connecticut, at a higher, ah, a feast of gold and color accessible to wall, regardless of their social class or origins. ah,

ah tazza to split least and suddenly have this well renowned connection victories that so all the artists who used to make the journey to montana and rome now had to go to the eastern listener. not listen, ah, augustus. the third's passion for art extended far beyond the borders of saxony. the birth of this now legendary collection would always be associated with the monarch. dresden is still referred to as the florence of the north. a home for art, a celebration of beauty in the form of a public collection, for every one to see as it's in its infancy in 1775. the camille gallery is huge than you catalogue may to go to the thick of mailed a gallery, had a conveniently small folk, easily accessible for visitors,

soft that that was characteristic. assemble on. and suddenly each of the va, me a pups off and stood still listed as a rembrandt girl, reading at a window, ready to commit to go to v a fixation. it. but of course it's of him here from van . now, on to that much, the official entry of this painting into the command gallery to go to the and how it was inducted into the history of aunt quince squished ah, rediscovering vermeer for the art world. this was etienne yoseph tail feel ta ways quest. he would spend almost 10 years of his life tracking down the spinks of dealt as he called the artist talk. ray travelled frequently between the hague and brussels. and later to berlin found shy and vienna. he examined various collections, recommending this superlative dutch men's works to his wealthy friends and

newcomers to the art market. a painter who was still relatively unknown due to the small number of his works. other people had helped to identify premier's paintings. but credit for truly resurrecting the painter's legacy goes to toby ah, guided by comments written by a berlin museum director toys journey eventually took him to dresden there in the royal gallery of augustus. the 3rd. torbay was able to identify 2 works by yon vermeer a triumph ah, among all the old masters on the walls. with these 2, he recognized something ineffable. he'd seen it and all the other premier paintings

in brussels, berlin, and vienna. they had been painted by the hand of vermeer. ah, for mere lists, if he listens unbidden, often a mere leaves, a great deal in his paintings, open an unresolved top. he works with nuances sponges, and in general with subtle modification must fit with what we call the atmospheric in these. and in doing so, he entices us into this atmosphere ish. it seemed to him build on and i, i enjoy it in a way. he introduces ambiguity and coax, has our imagination so that we think that something unresolved, that content we want to take a better look like it's a find out more astonished question on you start bringing this picture to life in your mind and my cough to the spirit to believe them on when it comes to the relationship between a work of often it's observer kong, what could be better?

what's his dea, a muggy, not shown, lou. abby vandeveer has spent years examining what is indisputably one of the most famous paintings in the history of art. premier's girl with the pearl airing of painting that's been celebrated on the big screen, interpreted and re interpreted over the centuries by a host of observers. from the church to royalty, art historians and museum directors to day scientific experts deploy state of the art analysis. really, we wanted to see with these new technologies and with an group of international researchers with lots of different equipment and lots of different expertise, bringing them altogether and find out how much we could find out about the painting as a whole. and from that, some amazing discoveries came up that we hadn't even expected from the beginning.

modern technology, shifting the narrative, when it comes to old masterpieces. the new technological options are tantalizing. with their promise to let us take a peek over the artists shoulder during the process of creation. ah we took the painting offer for usual spot here on the wall and brought her to the golden room of the modus house and especially built easel inside a glass enclosure. and within that enclosure, over a 2 week period,

scientists and their equipment. we're used to examine the painting to day scientific analyses routinely use a wide range of imaging devices such as x rays and infrared reflex ta graphy. microscopic examinations and even invasive microscopic procedures take place and sterile laboratories. and sometimes in full view of the public, it was important for us to keep the painting visible to the public because this is a very important painting that the public love very much. after all, who doesn't love the painting dubbed the mona lisa of the north. the girl with the blue turban and that irresistible glint in her eye, and of course the earring, a mere whisper of white premier's masterpiece, has practically become a pop culture event. with modern discoveries, drawing a new generation of visitors,

we knew from samples that were taken in the 1990 s. that originally the background had a different color that on top of a black under layer for mere applied a glaze that contains 2 pigments. one of them blue, indigo, and one of them yellow called weld. so this glazed, this transparent layer on top would have been a very dark green. but then in the top right corner we discovered some diagonal lines. so with this information and the knowledge now that these pigments, these yellow and blue pigments were used, makes us now realised that the background was originally a green curtain. the last green curtain, the tension between concealment and revelation. it draws us in. now what had begun with an x ray analysis for decades ago was set to be resolved.

the initial discovery was ignored by international arts. scholars who assumed the over painting had been done by premier himself, but had it under the expectant d. among the experts who advised augustus the third's ancient sin, paris was the flemish man. i was bent, the painter under restorer. how could says she's young battista slots slots is and he was famous for his talent for us during english painting. i'm touching up works shihean including venza, flemish and dutch painter. estimate this in the south. we know that he also restored a number of paintings from the carrying yano collection in prior to that arrival in placed enough places to comb isn't upset. now doesn't of all we can't st course, whether that girl reading a letter was one of these is, is, but it's

a legitimate assumption. anthony, in perhaps m by artists, or restorers who came along later wanted to sort of update the paintings to appeal more to the sensibilities of the time. so for instance, young woman reading a letter at an open window, perhaps in the time that it was over painted. they wanted to the viewer to concentrate on the stillness, the beauty, the concentration of the woman and not be distracted by the cupid behind her. was blood speculative volume of studies, her grandma aluminum and why it was over painted remains a point of speculation and will never be precisely explained. i know quick tour for me. it seems like a subsequent correction for me. it's a very early vermeer dish between beulah uncorked than francisco a day of i had kind of so and if you look at his later paintings your, he largely leaves out allegorical additions like this were from, from ya. and course who can as i was voc stickers, perhaps some connoisseur of him is work said to now he never would have painted it

like that in his later period. let's corrected as he would have an a raise this fresco in the back on stay desert. jesus to this fresco sikander. in 2019, the cml de galleria greeted the art sensation of the year. the picture had a new feature, cupid, the god of love and desire agent to choose also him. when we decided to restore the girl reading a letter we made use of all available analytical techniques was into a great surprise of it. we realized that this over painting was not by vermeer hemmed up, but must have been done several decades later by someone else to athens animals as good as as them. the painting was bought and brought to tristan as a rembrandt. but this strange and rowdy cupid in the background would have been out of place anywhere. francisco passed a revelation, a more colorful, playful side to vermeer. but what would the experts say?

an international team gathered to hear the man in charge of restoration? explain it, try to get feared i english by doris. de leon got off. he now's thus in mind what a strategy for the restoration seeks to do is to put the painting in the condition in which it might have left the art studio hunter. as always nice hawk, initially, it was a shock and i did this opens up whole new avenues of interpretation in lucas cadence . and i told me unquestionably exposing the cupid figure gives the picture of our clearer message. ah kid, come on. oh, fog. but almost us all. conversely, you can also ask why the so called original is so important. why go back in times if the for sure you can say, because this was al vermeer painted it off likely for me as that if we now claim to be capable of recreating the original picture in that we would have to 1st learn to

see things as they did in the 17th century, read aloud and v m's ips. if your not say about suzanne, there is the tendency to have to weigh the historical value of changes that have happened to an object over time versus the artist's original intention. and is it important to preserve those historical changes or to bring back a painting as close as it was to when vermeer painted it? ah, it's a debate that now accompanies the work of yon vermeer like a shadow. and i have i it is. and that decision was also a brave one with the previous history going back to 1979. people knew after the x ray that there was something underneath. i 1st went alley. when he does a showed which was in mine, are after fin shine chron to was on gavia. they could have said, yes, we do know about the over painting and what used to be hidden behind it. and a happy to pass on that knowledge is this game,

or we can still live with how it's been for centuries him leave, because that's also a part of its history history. and now this over painting is in turn being a raised is it grandma? so removing the paint is tantamount to a raising history fast. so it was fiona shifts after all. bermonte the rebel modern victim and in my experience, people are really excited when there is a new discovery painting that they have known for a long time. but on the other hand, there are also people who have known the painting to look this way for a very long time for hundreds of years. this paint has looked this way and it's going to take a certain amount of time to get used to how it looks now and to really rethink what this means. within from years over i to latest countryman, in theory, i could always return it to that condition. which type of a but it's now been liberated with a scalpel that was used to scrape off the lance and then an english before i turn on to ultimately, another pleasant effect is that the colors now radiate

a completely different vibrancy cuff to fla. the sooner under the beautiful thing about the vermeer painting as it was until now, a list is that it allows us to develop our own ideas on it. so i can quit months or you could talk about a mere appealing to mature, fewest hotter and appeal to our sense of mystery. perhaps this explains the enduring fascination exerted by the works of yon vermeer, an artist who used enigma to stimulate viewers imagination by leaving. so many interpretations open. vermeer can be seen as offering up a fundamentally democratic perspective in his art. and it was a king and dresden, who was one of the 1st in europe to open up this world to his subjects. his public gallery gave every one the opportunity to contemplate art

as august. it's it is little gus. just a 3rd is famous for being a real lover of painting people like this is any straight it in an anecdote about the sistine chapel mcdonough by rafael king. charlotte, on of this painting had been a quiet in italy after very complex negotiations that took about a year. and then it finally arrives in placed and it was carried into the throne room with the king himself. single handedly pushes his throne to one side and says, make way for the great raphael. the king made way for art o yon fond de mer or yon of the sea, as he was sometimes called a painter who left vacant spaces in his art to spur our imaginations. a tantalizing promise of freedom. premier's

masterpieces ended up in museums which have always served both as cultural arbiters and oases of freethinking every day. thousands of people view his paintings works originally intended only for private consumption by prosperous citizens of 17th century delft adorning the dark walls of dutch town houses. but what is it that we see in his art and what role do museums play today? are these traditional sanctuaries of independent thinking becoming increasingly compromised? the moods of the gig, if we look at the present and the current culture was affected, we see ethics becoming increasingly important. vote on and artistic liberty, no longer enjoying the same automatic respect that it use day. it invite us people

. zia, i'm lucas baskets. why? the biggest one notable example is the saatchi gallery in london. modest it have a series of high profile scandals where the point was always to stir up the audience in order to generate headlines and visit numbers. who can only will yes, ha plots. and suddenly we had the case of 2 paintings going on display meant that was so outrageous and problematic for some people that the gallery ended up deciding to cover them up. these, you could even call it the veneer effect as due to the sudden boom and interest in fem. yeah. effect. then just said sisters and tessa and isn't ruin the motto, stikes does the cell director should. that's the dialect, co logic and all of these current conflicts the, the artists who are supposed to be banished and taken down the cloud. enjoy an amazing amount of attention, making them a lot more popular polio nazi for. so what this repressing or even removing of things leads to is if anything, people really starting to talk about these poems or paintings, turkish quote,

are we seeing a contemporary revival of the a conic lasts? museums are increasingly becoming cultural battle grounds as debates. rage over what should be shown. many museums have their roots and a monarchy system. to day, their narrative authority is compromised. each other med in here and i believe the future lies in an involving public few files. one for this one in the gazette, growing social diversity, digital natives in the alternative perspectives. they bring a congenital kind of tune as hit on game and, and we have to provide this public with a meaningful framework. i 15, but here the old masters comply a special role in line lang. i. tom also advise cynthia, an anchor, dad, they've been an anchor, the generations. they provide continuity passing on both love and knowledge of this

. and i took it in after spending 300 years in our collective consciousness. girl reading a letter has been consigned to history, making way for new interpretations meter, if i legal the unveiling is the cheaper it makes the genre of the less a clear belief. i enjoy albert, but questions remain so east as even im, seeing the owner is this a faithful love ari fleet. aveena love form. the form of love remains ambivalent and enigmatically loved. in the obvious symbolism connected to the playing card is covered up by the painted curtain. he is able to wake him before hung for hood. i'm. this is the root at the ambiguity and the mystery had then remains the thumb. oh blight. ah,

the eternal mystery of a love story revealed now by the uncovering of a cupid. should some things remain secret? what does art history stand to gain a new vermeer? the original art work a new debate. ah, the mystery of vermeer will continue to beguile us that much his certain ah mm with into the conflict. so with to sebastian, just over a year ago,

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