Publisher's Synopsis
An exhibition in the summer of 1991 at the Wawel Royal Castle in Cracow juxtaposed two versions of a painting recently discovered to be the earliest dated work by Jan Vermeer. Vermeer had copied the Italian composition while still at the beginning of his career.;The essays by Arthur K. Wheelock from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and Lionel Koening from the CEDART in Florence, presented in this volume, demonstrate the complex methodological studies, art historical as well as technical (radiographic analysis, ultraviolet, infrared and pigment examinations) involved in securing the attribution to the Dutch master.
