Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window

This is one of the reasons why I love my job. Today, thanks to the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden we can present Johannes Vermeer’s Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window. The painting has an amazing story!  In 1979, an X-ray image of the work revealed a completely overpainted “picture in the picture” showing a naked Cupid on the wall of the room in the background. The overpainting was not by Vermeer but was done at least several decades after the master had completed the painting and most certainly after his death. The museum decided to remove the layer of overpaint with a scalpel. These are the results. 

Breathtaking, aren't they?

P.S. Read about Vermeer’s Desperate Housewives here :)