Description
A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals is a small late painting by Johannes Vermeer from about 1670–1672: a young woman in a yellow shawl and a white satin skirt sits at the virginals and turns her face towards us, red ribbons in her hair. The original, oil on canvas, is just 25.2 cm high and 20 cm wide and belongs to the Leiden Collection in New York. Our painter paints it for you in oil colours on canvas, in one of 8 portrait sizes from 40 x 49 to 150 x 195 cm or made to measure, and every one of those sizes is larger than the original. You will see a photograph of your finished painting before we ship it.
| Title: | A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals |
| Other titles: | Junge Frau am Virginal sitzend · Giovane donna seduta al virginale |
| Painter: | Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) |
| Year painted: | c. 1670–1672 |
| Original size: | 25.2 cm x 20 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, Dutch Golden Age |
| Located at: | The Leiden Collection, New York |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals – Johannes Vermeer
What does A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals show?
There is only one figure on the canvas. A young woman sits at the virginals, a small keyboard instrument, and turns her face to us as though someone had just spoken to her.
A yellow shawl lies over her shoulders, and below it a skirt of white satin gleams. Her hair is carefully dressed and threaded with red ribbons, with small pearls glinting among them.
Behind her is a pale, almost empty wall. Towards the edges of the canvas the room darkens, so the eye settles first on her bright face, then on the yellow shawl and the white skirt.
What does her glance tell us?
Vermeer does not say who she is or whom she plays for. This is a single moment: she looks up from the keys for an instant.
Because she looks straight out of the canvas, we become part of the scene. The tiny original adds to that closeness.
Music is a recurring theme in Vermeer. A related mood fills A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, where a woman stands beside the instrument and also meets the viewer’s eye.
Her ribboned hairstyle, fashionable around 1670 and matching the one in Vermeer’s Lacemaker, helps to date the work.
Why is A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals so unusual?
When it appeared in the 1904 catalogue of Alfred Beit’s collection, most experts accepted it as a Vermeer. In the mid-20th century, however, several supposed Vermeers turned out to be forgeries by Han van Meegeren, and doubt fell on this canvas too.
In 1993 its owner, Baron Rolin, asked the auction house Sotheby’s to investigate it. A series of technical examinations followed, and they convinced most specialists that Vermeer really painted it.
The evidence suggests the canvas was cut from the same bolt as that of the Lacemaker, with which it originally shared its dimensions as well. An X-ray revealed a pin-hole at the vanishing point, of the kind Vermeer used with a thread to get his perspective right.
The background wall contains costly ultramarine, the shadows green earth, and lead-tin yellow rules out a 19th- or 20th-century fake. Research before the Rijksmuseum’s Vermeer exhibition in Amsterdam in 2023 found that the yellow shawl, long seen as the weakest passage, is also by Vermeer.
Do not confuse it with Young Woman Seated at a Virginal in the National Gallery in London, a similar but more ambitious Vermeer. The Wikipedia article (in English) tells the attribution story in more detail.
Where is the original today?
The original is in New York, in the Leiden Collection owned by Thomas Kaplan. The canvas measures 25.2 cm in height and 20 cm in width, smaller than a sheet of A4 paper.
Its early history is unclear. It may have belonged to Pieter van Ruijven in Vermeer’s lifetime and later passed by inheritance to Jacob Dissius. By 1904 Alfred Beit owned it, along with a second Vermeer, and it stayed in the Beit family until 1960, when it was sold to Baron Rolin.
Rolin’s heirs sold it through Sotheby’s in 2004 to Steve Wynn, and it later entered the Leiden Collection. In recent years it has appeared in Vermeer exhibitions in the United States, Britain, Japan, Italy, France and the Netherlands.
A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals or another Vermeer?
This is a canvas painting for the quiet corners of a home: next to a piano, above a desk, in a bedroom or in the room where the children practise.
If you are drawn to a music scene with more people, look at The Music Lesson or Girl Interrupted at Her Music. For a livelier mood there is The Guitar Player, in which a girl laughs as she plays.
The famous Vermeer paintings we offer are gathered in one place, on the Johannes Vermeer page.
How does our painter paint your Young Woman at the Virginals?
Once your order is confirmed, the painter builds the work in oil on canvas, layer upon layer. Because the original is so small, every fine stroke has to be carried over to a larger surface without the scene losing its delicacy.
He starts with the dark edges and the pale wall, then models the face and hands. Next come the yellow shawl and the white satin skirt, which needs many thin, light layers before it glows. The red ribbons and the pearls in her hair are added last, with a fine brush.
The result is a Vermeer reproduction with brush marks and a depth of colour no print can reach. Like any oil painting reproduction, it also changes with the light in your room: the white skirt shines coolly in the morning and turns warmer in the evening.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 40 x 49 or 48 x 60 cm for a bedside table or a narrow wall, 60 x 78 or 69 x 85 cm above a chest of drawers or a piano, 85 x 110 or 110 x 135 cm above a sofa, and 120 x 155 or 150 x 195 cm for a tall wall or a staircase.
There are 8 portrait sizes to choose from (width x height): 40 x 49, 48 x 60, 60 x 78, 69 x 85, 85 x 110, 110 x 135, 120 x 155 and 150 x 195 cm. All of them are larger than the original; the smallest, 40 x 49 cm, is 20 cm wider and 23.8 cm taller.
In the larger sizes the young woman becomes the centre of the room; as a painting for the living room above a sofa, 85 x 110 cm works well, hung with her face roughly at eye level.
Is another size or a frame possible?
Yes. The original is roughly 4 : 5 in proportion, so we can transfer it to an unlisted size without losing the virginals or the shawl at the edge. Send us the width and height you would like, and we will reply with a price and a delivery time.
The painting can be sent rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. Our workshop in Slovenia handles the stretching and framing. You pick the frame in our 3D application, which is meant for choosing the frame only; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
A slim gold frame brings out the yellow shawl, while a dark wooden frame echoes the shadowy edges of the scene.
When will my painting arrive?
As soon as the order is confirmed we start painting, and within 15 to 45 working days the painting is ready to travel. Before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished work; if you would like a change, we make it.
Within Slovenia and the rest of the EU there are no customs charges, and our returns policy covers every purchase.
A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals is a lovely gift for a pianist, a piano teacher or someone learning to play. To let a musical friend choose the size, give a wall art voucher instead.
Frequently asked questions
Can I see the original anywhere?
It belongs to the Leiden Collection in New York and is often lent to exhibitions.
What are virginals?
A small keyboard instrument, common in Dutch households in the 17th century.
Is it really by Vermeer?
Yes. It was doubted for decades, but technical examinations since 1993 have convinced most experts.
Will I get a print?
No. Our painter makes a hand-painted copy for every order, with brushes and oil paint on canvas.
How big is the original?
It is 25.2 cm high and 20 cm wide; all our sizes are larger, the smallest being 40 x 49 cm.
Is it suitable for a bedroom?
Yes, a quiet scene with one figure and warm colours suits a bedroom or a music room.
Can I order my own size?
Of course; we paint it in the size you choose and first tell you the price and timing.
How long does it take to make?
From 15 to 45 working days, and you see a photograph of the finished painting before it ships.
- Subject: a young woman in a yellow shawl and white satin skirt sits at the virginals and looks towards us, red ribbons in her hair.
- Original: c. 1670–1672, oil on canvas, 25.2 x 20 cm, Leiden Collection, New York.
- Ours: oil on canvas, painted by hand to order, in 8 portrait sizes from 40 x 49 to 150 x 195 cm or a size you choose.
- Worth knowing: its attribution was disputed for years until technical examinations from 1993 onwards confirmed it.
