Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window is considered one of the first interior scenes by the Dutch master with a single figure. However, in the upper right corner, under a layer of brownish paint, a little angel waited patiently to see the light of day. The presence of Cupid in the composition has been known to historians since 1979, but the inclusion has now been attributed to Vermeer himself. 

In 2017, tests conducted in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam showed that the extra layer of paint covering the cupid was added several decades after the death of the Dutch painter. A first restoration (started in 2017) has already removed the coating of a multilayer varnish, which had turned yellowish brown over the centuries, revealing the true intention of Vermeer. 

The lightening of the varnish also demonstrated that the color's solubility properties in the central part of the background were different from those in other areas of the composition, which suggested that something was hiding underneath.

Following the recent discovery, the Staatliche Kunstammlungen museum in Dresden, which owns the painting, has decided to start a second restoration that should be completed in 2020. Christoph Scholzel, in charge of the operation, is gradually removing the painted layer with a scalpel, and at the moment, only a part of the cherub emerges from the shadows.

"It's a long-term job that progresses an average of one square centimeter per day," explains the museum. But it is also the best way to preserve the original painting that dates to 1657. 

The project, led by an international commission of experts, is partly funded by the Hata Foundation. After the restoration, Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window is planned to be on display in Dresden as part of the permanent exhibition of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. The canvas can be admired in its intermediate state there until June 16, 2019.

The appearance of the god of love transforms the interpretation of the work: the girl is now counterbalanced by Cupid's silhouette in the background, so the scene takes on a more romantic tone. Vermeer is perhaps implying that the girl is reading a love note or that she is engaged. 

For nearly three centuries, a cupid hid in the background of Johannes Vermeer's "Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window." However, the gradual removal of a layer of paint has recently freed the cherub from the shadows. 

A Cupid Revealed in a Vermeer Painting after 300 Years

On May 28, the second part of the Grimm collection will be auctioned at Aguttes in Paris, featuring almost 200 lots of Napoleonic memorabilia. From a shirt and. headscarf worn by the Emperor to Sevres porcelain dating to the Napoleonic era, the sale boasts one-of-a-kind antiquities, art and more. Here are the highlights:  

The marquee lot of the sale is Napoleon's cane from his exile on St Helena, the island off the coast of southwestern Africa. The 3-foot-tall cane was made on the island by a Chinese craftsman out of narwhal tooth. 
Estimated $111,000-134,000

Another personal item from Napoleon's exile is a white batiste shirt that he wore on the island. It is identified as the emperor's because his insignia (an N under a crown) is embroidered on the shirt in red silk thread. With the shirt comes a handwritten note from the son of Napoleon's aide-de-camp General Henry Bertrand. General Bertrand accompanied Napoleon to St Helena and brought Napoleon's remains back to France for burial at the Invalides after his death and willed the shirt to his eldest son. The shirt is consigned from the Napoleonic collection of the Prince's Palace in Monaco. 
Estimated $89,000-111,000

A madras silk headscarf belonging to Napoleon will also enter the auction room. In 1830, painter Charles de Steuben painted Napoleon dictating his memoirs to General Gourgaud on St. Helena wearing his characteristic headscarf. Napoleon was said to have over sixty scarves, six of which he brought to his exile to St. Helena. 

It is embroidered with the emperor's red silk insignia and was originally in the collection of Valérie Masuyer (1797-1878), lady-in-waiting of Queen Hortense, Napoleon's step-daughter. This scarf also comes from the Monaco royal collection. 
Estimated $40,000-50,000

Another piece from the Monaco royal collection is this flag that covered Napoleon's coffin when it was transported aboard boat back to France from St Helena in July 1840. The tricolor flag was representative of France and had returned to prominence as the symbol of France under Napoleon's rule. General Bertrand, Napoleon's loyal aide-de-camp, accompanied the coffin back to France and the flag passed to his descendants before entering the royal collection. 
Estimated $9,000-13,000

On May 29, the auction continues with the third part of the Grimm collection. This sale features ancient arms and accessories, including helmets, swords, weapons and armor. 

At Aguttes' upcoming auction, the Grimm collection boasts clothing and accessories owned by Napoleon, as well as ancient militaria. 

Since May 2013, Jeff Koons was the most expensive living artist after his large-scale Balloon Dog sold for $58.4 million at Christie's. Then, five years later, David Hockney resoundingly dethroned him when Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) achieved $90.3 million at the Christie’s November auction in 2018.

But on May 15, 2019, Jeff Koons edged out Hockney's record to once again become the world's priciest living artist when Rabbit, his original stainless steel inflatable from the mid-1980s, sold for $91.1 million at Christie's Post War and Contemporary Art auction.

The 3.4-foot-high Rabbit, which entered the auction room with an estimate of $50-70 million, was particularly notable because it was the very first Koons inflatable to be cast in stainless steel, which is now the artist's most recognizable art form. It was also the only one in the original series of three (plus an artist's proof) that was still privately owned (the others are in public collections of The Broad in LA, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the National Museum of Qatar).

The iconic sculpture first debuted in 1986 at New York's Sonnabend Gallery and transformed the future of contemporary art. Alex Rotter, the Chairman of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie's, mused, "For me, Rabbit is the anti-David. It signaled the death of traditional sculpture and disrupted the medium in the same way that Jackson Pollock's Number 31 permanently redefined the notion of painting."

Related: The 10 Most Expensive Living Artists

It was the most prized work in the collection of Si Newhouse Jr., the late billionaire publishing heir of the Condé Nast empire, and was prominently displayed in his New York apartment until his death in October 2017. Eleven works from Newhouse's collection appeared at auction at Christie's this May – and totaled over $216 million in sales, which also included a Paul Cézanne still life ($59 million) and a Vincent Van Gogh landscape ($40 million).

But Jeff Koons wasn't the only record-breaker at the Christie's evening sale. Robert Rauschenberg's large-scale painting Buffalo II (1964) set a new record for the artist when it sold for $88.8 million. The seminal work on oil and silkscreen depicts some of the most recognizable images of the early sixties: President John F. Kennedy, space exploration, the American bald eagle and a Vietnam War-era army helicopter, and it combines elements of what was the emerging genre of Pop Art and the color blocking of abstract art. Rauschenberg debuted the work at the Venice Biennale in 1964 and won the prestigious Grand Prize for Painting for it, the first American to do so. Beatrice Mayer, the heiress to the Sara Lee baking fortune, and her husband, Robert, acquired the work in 1965, and it had been in their collection for the past five decades, until Beatrice's death last September.

Related: The 10 Most Expensive Sculptures Sold at Auction

An artist's record was also set for Louise Bourgeois when her iconic Spider (1996) became the most expensive sculpture by a contemporary female artist, selling for $32 million. Gracefully perched in a threatening pose, Spider seems poised to attack at any moment, while one of the legs stretches forward to reach its prey. Triggering a panel of emotions ranging from childish reverie to primary fear, the spider is a deeply personal creation for Bourgeois, who associated the arachnid with the maternal figure.  

In addition, contemporary artist Frank Stella's Point of Pines (1959) achieved $28 million, shattering his previous record of $13.7 million. The work was part of his ‘Black Paintings’ series, a pre-cursor to the colorful geometric works for which he is most recognized today. The black enamel painted canvas with hand-drawn stripes appears simple and monochromatic, but, in actuality, required intense focus to make the stripes appear straight though done by hand. One of Stella's first works – it was painted when the artist was only 23 – Point of Pines was both a rejection of Abstract Expressionism and a premonition of the repetition and pattern that Pop Art would promote in the coming decade.

The Post-War and Contemporary Art auction totaled $538.9 million, closing out Christie's major May sales.

Explore all art news on Barnebys Magazine

On May 15, 2019, Jeff Koons took back the title of the most expensive living artist when his 'Rabbit' sold for $91.1 million at Christie's.

Jeff Koons is the Most Expensive Living Artist (Again)

A Cupid Revealed in a Vermeer Painting after 300 Years

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