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For much of the 20th century, this captivating work languished in near-obscurity. Now, after more than ten years of extensive research by a team of leading scholars, the painting has finally taken its place alongside the 35 works that had previously been fully accepted as constituting the artist's entire output.
As one of such a small number of known paintings by Vermeer, Young Woman Seated at the Virginals - represents an immensely important addition to the artist's oeuvre. Measuring just 10 by 8 inches (25 by 20cm), it is one of Vermeer's most intimate works and is the same size as Vermeer's Lacemaker, in the Louvre. The only fully accepted example of Vermeer's work in private hands, it is also the first painting by the artist to have come to auction in more than 80 years. (The last Vermeer to appear at auction was The Little Street, which was offered at a sale in Amsterdam in 1921. It failed to sell and was subsequently bought by a private collector, who donated it to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. )
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