Rijksmuseum Finds Underpainting Beneath Vermeer’s ‘Milkmaid’ Artwork

Think you’ve seen every last bit of one of Johannes Vermeer’s most iconic paintings, The Milkmaid?

Well, it appears that beneath this famed artwork lies “startling discoveries,” with the Rijksmuseum’s recent research into the artist’s pieces revealing an underpainting beneath the original work.

The institution chanced upon the secret work while preparing for the largest Vermeer exhibition ever, scheduled to take place next year. The event will feature all three of the Frick Collection’s paintings, The Girl With A Pearl Earring from Mauritshuis, Lady Writing A Letter With Her Maid from the National Gallery of Ireland, and more.

During the research process, restorers and scientists at the museum used advanced Macro-XRF and RIS scanning technologies—the same techniques used to repair Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. 

These state-of-the-art technologies revealed that there was an underpainting on The Milkmaid, shedding new light on the artist’s painting methods that were otherwise lost to history. 

According to the facility, it was previously assumed that Vermeer produced his oeuvre slowly and with extreme precision. Now, following the finding, researchers are treading back on the claim, considering how a thick line of black paint can be seen hastily painted beneath the subject’s left arm. 

According to ARTnews, the scans revealed a preliminary sketch of a jug holder with several jugs, which would have been used in 17th-century homes. Interestingly enough, Vermeer is said to have owned a similar piece in his own home.

Furthermore, the higher detail available to scientists these days has enabled the team to identify a “fire basket” at the lower right of the painting, a standard household item during the time period that Vermeer had kept in his own abode. It was later covered up by the artist with a footstove, tiles, and flooring. 

For those familiar with the Baroque painter, he liked including domestic interior scenes in his works, often portraying the life of a middle-class family at the time.

To get a closer look at The Milkmaid and uncover the secrets behind Vermeer’s other works, art lovers can head to the exhibition from February 10 to June 4, 2023.

[via ARTnews and Rijksmuseum, images via Rijksmuseum]