Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/619

 vi JOHANNES VERMEER 595 from the left a cavalier wearing a bandolier and sword, with his back to the spectator, sits in front of a harpsichord. On his left, a young girl in a silk gown, with her face to the right, is playing the instrument. Another young girl in a fur-trimmed jacket stands to the man's right, facing the spectator, but turning slightly to the left ; she is singing and beating time with her right hand. The lid of the instrument, which is turned up, is adorned with a painted landscape. Above it, on the wall to the left, hangs a picture representing a landscape. To the right hangs a genre-piece, in which a man embraces a woman who plays a lute, while a young man appears to offer her something ; the same picture is intro- duced in Mr. Salting's " Young Lady seated at the Spinet " (25). In the left foreground is the corner of a heavy table, covered with a Turkey carpet, on which are a guitar and music-books. On the floor to the right of it is a violoncello. The floor is paved with black and white tiles. The execution resembles that of the picture at Windsor (28). Canvas, 28 inches by 25 inches. Sales. Van Leyden, Paris, September 10, 1804. Thore-Burger who did not own it in 1866 Paris, December 5, 1892, No. 31 (29,000 francs). Now in the collection of Mrs. Gardner, Boston, U.S.A. 30. A Man playing Music with a Lady in an Interior. H. 9. Sale. Amsterdam, May 16, 1696, No. 10 (81 florins). 30*7. A Lady at the Spinet, with a Gentleman. See B. 9 ; H. n. Both are playing music. Through an open window are seen some houses. Canvas, 32 inches by 25^ inches. Sale. J. J. de J. J. de Faesch, Amsterdam, July 3, 1833, No. 34 (105 florins, Twist). 30^. The Concert. 15 inches by n| inches. Sale. London, December 21, 1901, No. 94. 31. A GIRL READING A LETTER. B. 32; H. 35. A girl, whose figure is shown at full length, stands facing left in the centre of the picture, holding a letter in both hands. She wears a loose blue jacket and a white skirt. To the left is a table covered with a cloth, on which is an open casket. There is a chair behind the table and another on the right. A map, cut off by the frame, hangs on the white wall. Canvas, 19^ inches by 16 inches. Described by Waagen, iii. 26. Sale*. (Possibly) Pieter van der Lip, Amsterdam, June 14, 1712, No. 22 (no florins) but the vague description might apply to the " Girl reading a Letter " at Dresden (34). H. ten Kate, Amsterdam, June 10, 1801, No. 118 (no florins, Tyssen). Paris, 1809. Lapeyriere, Paris, 1825. Comte de Sommariva, Paris, February 18, 1839.