To complete the study, the Rijksmuseum enlisted an interdisciplinary team of conservators and scientists.
New advanced-imaging technology is making it easier to see what lurks below—at least in art-historical terms.
Rijksmuseum enlisted an interdisciplinary team of conservators and scientists to analyze a number of Vermeer paintings using advanced Macro-XRF and RIS scanning technologies. The technique—essentially an x-ray that allows researchers to see early strokes on a canvas that may have been covered up by successive layers—allowed them to pinpoint the underpainting.
The jug holder, according to a Rijksmuseum press release, would have been a popular item in many 17th-century Dutch kitchens.nobs, which would have allowed it to hold several ceramic jugs by their handles, it would have added a level of clutter that Vermeer thought twice about, and painted out.The fire basket appears to be one woven from willow stems and is also known as a, a type of basket found in an inventory of Vermeer’s own estate, according to the Rijksmuseum.
The Rijksmuseum itself has a world-class collection of Northern Renaissance masterpieces, including four works by Vermeer, who worked in the middle part of the 17th century.