Girl Interrupted at her Music
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''Girl Interrupted at Her Music'' (Dutch: ''Onderbreking van de muziek'') is a painting by the Dutch artist
Johannes Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , #Pronunciation of name, see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period Painting, painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle class, middle-class life. ...
. It was painted in the
baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
style, probably between the years 1658 and 1659, using oil on canvas. Since 1901 it has been in the
Frick Collection The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the 945 Madison Avenue#2021–present: Frick Madison, Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and Europe ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. In this painting, Vermeer depicts a woman at her music with a gentleman beside her. This painting shows the typical courtship during the 17th century in Europe. It also focuses on the importance of music when it comes to love. The room that they are shown in is one of higher class, most likely belonging to a person of haute bourgeoisie. The painting is very reminiscent of Vermeer’s other works.


Important objects and symbols


Wine glass

The wine glass, discreetly shown on the table behind the songbook, is tied with both joyfulness and seduction. In the 17th century it was popular to paint scenes that depicted feasts that included drinking, gaming, and playing music. Later on, these large gatherings became smaller and more exclusive with two or three people shown. Drinking wine was also associated with love during this time period. You can see that the glass is full and untouched, which symbolizes the slow moving relationship between the man and the woman.


Window

On the left side of the painting is a multi-paned window, from which the light source is provided for the scene. Vermeer used the same window design in nine of his other works (''
The Music Lesson ''The Music Lesson'', ''Woman Seated at a Virginal'' or ''A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman'' by Johannes Vermeer is a painting of a young female pupil receiving a music lesson from a man. The man's mouth is slightly agape giving the impr ...
'', ''
The Girl with the Wine Glass ''The Girl with the Wine Glass'' (''Dame en twee heren'') is an oil on canvas painting by Johannes Vermeer, created ''c.'' 1659–1660, now in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, in Braunschweig. Painting materials The pigment analysis done by Herman ...
'', '' The Glass of Wine'', ''
Officer and Laughing Girl ''Officer and Laughing Girl'', also known as ''Officer and a Laughing Girl'', ''Officer With a Laughing Girl'' or ''De Soldaat en het Lachende Meisje'', was painted by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer in around 1657. It was painted in oil on canv ...
'', ''
Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid ''Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid'' ( nl, Schrijvende vrouw met dienstbode) is a painting by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, completed in 1670–1671 and held in the National Gallery of Ireland, in Dublin. The work shows a middle-class wo ...
'', ''
Woman with a Water Jug ''Woman with a Water Jug'' (Dutch: ''Vrouw met waterkan''), also known as ''Young Woman with a Water Pitcher'', is a painting finished between 1660–1662 by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer in the Baroque style. It is oil on canvas, 45.7cm x ...
'', '' Woman with a Lute'', ''
Woman Holding a Balance ''Woman Holding a Balance'' (Dutch: ''Vrouw met weegschaal''), also called ''Woman Testing a Balance'', is an oil painting by Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer, now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. At one time the pai ...
'', and ''
Woman with a Pearl Necklace ''Woman with a Pearl Necklace'' by Johannes Vermeer is a Dutch Golden Age painting of about 1664. Painted in oils on canvas, Johannes Vermeer portrayed a young Dutch woman, most likely of upper-class descent, dressing herself with two yellow ribb ...
''). Some experts questioned whether this painting was by Vermeer. The precision of the lighting from the window was thought to prove that it was in fact an original Vermeer.


Chairs

The chairs depicted in the painting are thought to have been from Spain. They are some of the few objects in the painting that were not damaged by heavy restoration. You can see the minute details including the lion head carving, the brass studs, and the “lozenge” pattern that were all popular aspects of furniture during the time.


Painting

The hazy painting in the background of the scene is of
Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...
. The painting within a painting was discovered after its restoration in 1907; it had been covered up by a wall and a hanging violin. Several observations have been made about the Cupid painting and what it could have to do with the overall painting, including that Cupid may be warning the couple about the dangers of love, that Cupid's upraised hand was a symbol that you must only have one lover, that Cupid is holding up a blank card which represents love as a game, or shows that "love is in the air". The reason for Vermeer including the miniature Cupid painting may never be revealed due to the painting's damaged condition.


Vase

On the table sits a vase made of porcelain and silver, likely used for serving wine. One of the main centers for porcelain in the Netherlands was and still is Delft, although they had "limited success" in recreating Chinese porcelain.


Man

The man in the painting is likely upper class, due to his fashionable attire.


Music

Love and music often went hand in hand in the 17th century, especially with the presence of a musical duet between a man and a woman. Playing music with one another was one of the few activities where young people of the opposite sex could socialize. The two in the painting were likely part of the haute bourgeoisie, which meant that they were worldly and educated when it came to music, and each likely had a personal collection of songbooks.


Cultural references

The painting is a theme in the book ''
Girl, Interrupted ''Girl, Interrupted'' is a best-selling 1993 memoir by American author Susanna Kaysen, relating her experiences as a young woman in an American psychiatric hospital in the 1960s after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Th ...
'' by
Susanna Kaysen Susanna Kaysen (born November 11, 1948) is an American author, best known for her 1993 memoir '' Girl, Interrupted''. Background Kaysen was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is the daughter of Annette (Neutra) and economist Carl ...
, the title of that book being based on the title of the painting.


See also

*
List of paintings by Johannes Vermeer The following is a list of paintings by the Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675). After two or three early history paintings, he concentrated almost entirely on genre works, typically interiors with one or two figures. His popul ...
*
Dutch Golden Age painting Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence. The new Dutch Republ ...


References

1. Janson, J.. "Girl Interrupted at Her Music." ''Essential Vermeer''. N.p., 2011. Web. 12 Mar 2012. . 2. Liedtke, Walter. "Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/verm/hd_verm.htm (October 2003) 3.


External links

*
Girl Interrupted at Her Music
' at the website of The Frick Collection
The Works of Vermeer
{{ACArt Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer 1660 paintings Paintings in the Frick Collection Paintings of Cupid Paintings of women