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Today’s Doodle celebrates Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, a 1seminal Baroque artist who is widely regarded among the greatest Dutch painters of all time. On this day in 1995, an 2eponymous exhibition opened at Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art, featuring 21 of his 35 existing works.

Johannes Vermeer was born in Delft, the Netherlands, at the height of the Dutch Golden Age in 1632. Although little is known about Vermeer’s early life, historians estimate from his early mythological paintings that he first aspired to be a historical painter.

1　影響力のある
2　フェルメールの名を冠した展覧会

By the 1650s, Vermeer began to paint subtly lit interiors with 3intricate symbology−a style distinguished by traditional Dutch 4motifs that became his 5hallmark. He captured the commonplace in radiant and exquisite detail, creating masterworks including 6“The Girl with the Pearl Earring '' (1665) which is currently on display at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, the Netherlands. The artistic techniques Vermeer employed are still up for debate. Some art historians suggest he traced images projected from a 7camera obscura (a predecessor to the photographic camera), but with no physical evidence to back up such claims, some Vermeer specialists 8remain unconvinced.

3　複雑な
4　モチーフ
5　顕著な特徴
6　真珠の耳飾りの少女(作品名)
7　暗箱、カメラ・オブスクラ・・・カメラの前身
8　納得がいかないままである

On the left, the Doodle artwork references “The Allegory of Painting” (1666-1668) and in the middle, 9“Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid” (1670-1671). In 1979, an X-ray revealed a hidden Cupid in Vermeer’s 10“Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window” (1657-1659), referenced on the right of the Doodle. Researchers continued to analyze the canvas in 2017, determining that the Cupid was covered by another painter. In 2021, a German initiative completely restored the painting. These efforts are just a few of the many attempts to demystify Vermeer and some of the world’s most treasured pieces of fine art he left behind.

Here’s to a true artistic luminary−Johannes Vermeer!

9　手紙を書く婦人と召使(作品名)
10　窓辺で手紙を読む女(作品名)


今日は1995年、ワシントンDCのナショナル・ギャラリーでフェルメール展が開かれた日でした。
最後の「窓辺で手紙を読む女」についての記述。
元々は

とされていました。
ですが後の調査で、キューピッドの絵が消されていたことが判明。
修復され

このとおり元に戻され、今年の9月に再び一般公開されました。
何のためにキューピッドが塗りつぶされたのかは不明。