A girl reading a letter by an open window

The original, on canvas, 83 x 64.5 cm, is in the Staatliche Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden (A. Blankert, J.M. Montias, G. Aillaud, Vermeer, 1992, p.173, no.6, plate 5). It was purchased by August III of Saxony in 1742 in Paris. The painting is to be dated to circa 1658 and is to be compared with three other works, which both in composition and style are much indebted to Pieter de Hooch (The soldier and the laughing girl - Frick Collection, New York; Milkmaid - Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Lady and gentleman in an interior - Gemäldegalerie, Berlin; Milkmaid; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Blankert, op.cit., no.5, 7 and 8, plates 6-8).

See colour illustration