Girl with the Red Hat
c. 1669
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
painted surface: 22.8 x 18 cm (9 x 7 1/16 in.) support: 23.2 x 18.1 cm (9 1/8 x 7 1/8 in.) framed: 40.3 x 35.6 x 4.4 cm (15 7/8 x 14 x 1 3/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CNE-B
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Andrew W. Mellon Collection
Accession Number
1937.1.53
Art Historical Context
**Girl with the Red Hat painted by Johannes Vermeer around 1669, captures the intimate essence of Dutch Golden Age portraiture in a remarkably small oil-on-panel format—measuring just 22.8 x 18 cm. This diminutive scale, unusual for Vermeer who often worked on canvas, suggests it may have been a personal study or a bespoke commission, allowing for exquisite detail in a compact space. Housed in the National Gallery Art's Andrew W. Collection, the work showcases a young woman in profile, her vibrant red hat adorned with feathers dramatically contrasting against a shadowy background, her blue rob...
About the Artist
Johannes Vermeer · 1632–1675
Johannes Vermeer, baptized on October 31, 1632, in Delft, Dutch Republic, was born into a middle-class family; his father, Reijnier Janszoon, worked as an innkeeper and art dealer, while his mother, Digna Baltens, hailed from Antwerp. After his father's death in 1652, Vermeer took over the family art business. In 1653, he married Catharina Bolnes, a Catholic woman from a wealthier family, converti...