blue shoes. ah, a deceptively simple image. yon premier's girl reading a letter at an open window from 1657. standing just beyond the curtain. she seems peaceful at one with herself and the moment. the letter hints at the presence of the world outside and into this calm, intimate moment, a figure intrudes a naked cupid. the god of love and desire was detected in an x ray analysis decades ago, but was largely ignored by the art world. now he's made a dramatic re entrance, a new restoration made clear that the cupid had been painted over by another artist after vermeer of death. the revelation made headlines around the world. the german museum that owns the painting, the old masters, picture gallery or gemelli galaxy and dresden decided to uncover the figure so long concealed official. this really is unique. mine wasn't basically means me writing veneer scholarship. ah, a sensational outcome. after years of research. for centuries, people have been fascinated by the enigmatic paintings of yon vermeer. his works have long defied definitive interpretation. and that has made the artist the subject of highly contentious debates among the world's art scholars. in dresden, a well funded team of internationally renowned premiere experts got to work using cutting edge technology. they got remarkable results. what started out as the restoration of a single painting as led to the radical transformation of an iconic image. it was the art historical equivalent of open heart surgery. the removal of a layer of paint revealed a cupid and provided plenty of food for thought. as an a truly you have this iconic painting that is imprinted itself in our collective consciousness. now it's no longer there, it's been replaced by another painting actually destined as far as window furnaces . for removing the paint is tantamount to a raising history. rebel marlo vick learned to put that on. if we have the names here of individuals who may have painted over the mayor, tom, ah, are you one of those who are attracted by the unknown and unrecognized? are you curious about mystery in reality? about shadow and light? the 2 extremes of both art and life. at the museum in the hague, a su purve, and utterly unique painting stops all visitors in their tracks. that makes a lasting impression on artists and connoisseurs alike. it's the view of the town of belt by young vaughan the mere these are the words of the man who rediscovered vermeer in 18. 65. in the nearly 2 centuries after the painter's death, his work had fallen into obscurity. we don't know a lot about from here he is known as the sphinx of dells because we know so little about his life. he lived in delft, which is a town in the netherlands and he had lots of children more than 10 children. so how he got time to paint, i dont know known as yawn or johan us. premier is the most famous son of delta, the city where he spent his entire life. he was born here in 1632 and ara later called the dutch golden age. a time of unprecedented prosperity for the netherlands when the arts and sciences flourished along with international trade. in total, yon vermeer is legacy amounts to just $37.00 paintings. but each of them is a masterpiece and guaranteed ticket seller for any exhibition. all of them were produced in delphi. vermeer lived on volta scoffed for many years, right around the corner from the st. lucas artists guild, of which he was a member. he moved homes just once and thus lived his whole life within a radius of 100 meters. to day that tiny patch of dealt draws premier fans from around the world. vermeer only ever painted to exterior views. the rest of his works depict interiors. the outside world is present only in the light that pours in through lead glass windows. premier's compositions are a camera obscura, in the truest sense, darkened chambers with light entering from one solitary point. space is characterized by a feeling of intimacy and concealment. they arouse in the viewer and urge to unravel a mystery. his paintings are a 3 dimensional experience. ah, vermeer conjured up fleeting moments with a power that enthralls no adherent of strict realism, he frequently changed the scale in form of objects. many of his pictorial elements were inspired by the well to do homes of the burgeoning middle class. ah, the perspective geometry of the floor tops items from every day life, an artist with an imagination that opened up new horizons. and premier's very particular palette of colors which hailed in part from more exotic lines. and this is the blue pigment, called indigo, that would have come from far away either in asia or from the west indies. this is a yellow pigment called weld, that it is made from a plant that probably grew in the netherlands. and when these 2 colors were mixed together, it would have made a transparent green ah, a new style of painting. incorporating the technological marbles of the time. yon premier's friendship with a lens grinder from dealt, introduced him to optical innovations like the camera obscura. in premier's imagination, the camera obscura was like the i, it's lens, the pupil. it's screen the retina, a pete box that cast images on to the wall. this was also the dawn of a new age in art, one that filled a vacuum. a 100 years after the reformations, destructive iconoclasm. in 1566 protestant iconoclast christians, who saw depictions of religious figures as blasphemous, destroyed paintings in churches across dealt oh, they also rebelled against the curtains that had traditionally been draped across the churches. holiest and most revered paintings to protect them from the masses. ah, the painted curtain would eventually become a motif in its own right. deployed once again by various dutch painters in the mid 17th century. as a inbound vase, there it is. rembrandt was the 1st to paint the frame, complete with kersin, right into the pitch up in the spilled he, 9 of and then this is east alpha there vandal, for island. so the exterior curtain now becomes a motif highly am build motif and illusionary trick called tom ploy. literally meaning deception of the i i know and that is i, you could also see it as us. the view is being deceived, terry. rather violet, because we see the image of a curtain which invites us to try and see behind it. madden un sites basin, seen swan keith. but that desire to see more about what's hidden behind the curtain is not just about some of the world view or a view from a window, vales or the i'm fain, spouse, flakes of wanton. so and then meet metaphorically. it's about wanting to see more through the medium of art in beers, i'm on fonder, my leg, i pay, it can be interpreted as the genesis of an appreciation, because i'm out there constantly. papa. i 15. at the peak of the golden age, dutch artists were producing $70000.00 paintings a year. a prolific rate, unprecedented in the history of art does position so it's very apt for the 17th century more a time. what concepts of time and space were being revolutionized that's wandering idle up to that point. it is the world was considered to be in godson's and predetermined. mia, it's for it's in the 17th century, and people began to see themselves as self determining style can call me yon ramirez, paintings are and remains superbly devised invitations to explore new worlds for mrs. this toddler allison food. what i love about this painting is that it's such a small room, but the longer you look at it, the more expensive the room becomes, so it opens up. it is a home after it says this early work from 1657 already incorporates premier's core elements. the use of light, the transient moment, the suggestion of a narrative blue pushed in it's ok so fancy and imagination monitor suddenly you're in a different world. and just as the woman re debbie is in another world on one of various worlds brought to life by johan is premier. busy interiors where the 4th wall is cast aside. as premier gives us moments of intimacy for the ages. lou did and yet for a time for mirrors work was forgotten until a re discovery in dresden augustus the 3rd king of poland, an elector of saxony, military commander, and one of the greatest art patrons of his time. a man with visionary plans, they included the creation of an art gallery, so grand, all of europe would hear of it. the clinic is stuff i to some, the king had a series of paintings ready for the connection. on, initially, they were housed in what were still in the 17th century by the royal stables. in zips in yelled at us. i'm saying this is whether the mer to gallery it was established. you can they, to get it done english that, that of the royal gallery essentially became a proton museum, a temple of art open to all a presentation of his majesty's good taste or bonn, goof, the monarch as arbiter, deciding which works well worthy of display. i was that done since the 3rd was a real connoisseur craft and he took an active interest in painting and was directly involved in the acquisitions. he made the tie leash while though the major hubs of the fine art trade were some distance away. the 17th century saw a veritable frenzy of are collecting, both in italy and france, and especially in paris. on the flourishing french market, the principal buyers were cardinals, royalty the aristocracy, the clergy and monasteries purchasing by a correspondence with their agents on the spot. collectors hosted the 1st public exhibitions of contemporary art by the 18th century auctions were already playing a major role in paris. art dealer's 1st began to emerge. old documents paint a vivid picture of how augustus was able to build up his unique collection. carrying on pets ish. the mysteries from saxony dispatched an alert, placed in about the impending sale of an important connection. with a coughed, dutch and flemish artists were producing paintings of the highest quality, but augustus, as agents and paris were after something else. the prized collection of victor amadeus, the burst of savoy, the prince of county, all eyes is obscene of. and when the prince of karen yano died in france in 1741, the chief concern for augustus was his collection of italian paintings. which is why he sent his agent to paris again enough bodies. the market was a highly competitive one. with the kings of france and portugal, among the bidders augustus employed a range of arch savvy experts and the flemish conservatory. in total, he managed to acquire 30 paintings from the colony, all collection spending a fortune in the process. when julia tube, if he should it, we can see him. which paintings from the famous prince of karen yano collection went from paris to saxony hill on the handle. i hoped and the most prominent among them was a gift beat isis in my 80. denise powder. sure. to mushy, as meaning grounded on top of the trade. so a present to shakes. ah . don't you know? go did debris. luke, who will take signals, who says ha, as wandered in among the many paintings received i your excellency. e one is i rembrandt get designs from the him. pont looks his aunt. all engine fi t v, said he jennifer. nick does as depicting a young girl reading across from a window on his fence. thus he ah, ah, this man wilmington is being mistaken for rembrandt. it is due solely to the painted curtain. the curtain was the key elements of the masterpiece. an invitation to take a closer look at the scene. this means that by adding a painted curtain, i real, rembrandt was declaring this painting of his he's as to be a masterpiece. i my foolish trick bixler here. this isn't good. thank. and it was a gift to a friend, wouldn't that so it had to be valuable while henderson. and he was the most celebrated dutch painter, rembrandt. linus off, and that for me is the reason why this painting, which was obviously very valuable, ended up going to placed in as a rembrandt called us and give it a full time pump. ah, so after being given the list of paintings, the king said, i want that one, that one and that one. then he told is cheap emissary in paris to verify an essential question. authenticity. transportation was another issue with the wet autumn weather create problems. what about the temperature? and could the paintings be rolled up and a cylinder? eventually the paintings from the colony on collection arrived in dresden. there they were soon put on display in the king's new museum. ah, one picture was kept from public view. the one given to the king as a present. the girl reading a letter was placed in the king's chambers. the painting was now part of an exclusive and illustrious group. one that included the very best of dutch painting . a privileged position shrouded in mystery. it was hidden away in the private rooms of the ruler of saxony and poland, measuring $83.00 by $64.00 and a half centimeters. this every day, seen by a dutch master graced the king's cabinet room. this cabinets, it being an integral part of the palace. his ceremonial apartments, access to the cappy night, was obviously restricted to a room where the king could retreat, screening alone or with guests to contemplate his paintings her at pleasure, uncooked on the paintings. there were almost exclusively duction flemish works depicting generic seals in the after insur constructed intimacy. intimidated. busy busy ah, on the ticket is a spirit mom entering this picture is not straightforward for you 1st have to go past the curtain, then across the rug pick. and sub me there you are. mando now your parts of event. so she ends, although events is almost incorrect as nothing is actually happening. there is no story hunt lo. busy ah, all you see, is this woman completely absorbed in what she's doing? oh, what might she be reading? her concentrated face is reflected in the window. oh, how does this woman feel imprisoned or free like the world beyond her window questions that retain their fascination to this day. by $1765.00, the painting had left the king's private rooms and could now be seen in dresden skim, melted gallery. busy busy busy g 3 snug unaided. got any. is thee camille? the gallery in easton is on par with the leuva in terms of the quality of the paintings that the stump. this was also true in the 18th century life from rural. but brown says, your own collection in the louvre was completely inaccessible to the public. at this time, a thinking mitten, a hit when placed in his command. a gallery opened in 1740 sacks. can any one british, any artist, student with all bank capital? and we know this from the visitor records accent and could go inside indigo, made a godaddy. i, a feast of gold and color accessible to wall, regardless of their social class or origins. ah, ah, tazza displeased and suddenly have this well renowned connection victory. that so all the artists who used to make the journey to montana and rome, now had to go to the isda listener. knock, listen, ah, augustus. the third's passion for art extended far beyond the borders of saxony. the birth of this nel legendary collection would always be associated with the monarch dressed in a still referred to as the florence of the north. a home for art, a celebration of beauty in the form of a public collection. for every one to see. as it's in its infancy in 1775, the camille gallery is you daniel catalog commander go to the, the camille, the gallery had a convenient place. small folks can easily accessible for visitors. thought that that was characteristic a symbol on and suddenly it's in the va me, it pops off and still still listed as rembrandt. girl reading out a window ready to commit to go to v a fixation. it. but of course, it's of a mac function now onto so that much the official entry of this painting into the command gallery to go to the and how it was inducted into the history of aunt quince squished ah, rediscovering vermeer for the art world. this was etienne yoseph tail feel ta ways quest. he would spend almost 10 years of his life tracking down the spinks of dealt as he called the artist talk re travelled frequently between the hague and brussels. and later to berlin found shy and vienna. he examined various collections, recommending this superlative dutch men's works to his wealthy friends and newcomers to the art market. a painter who was still relatively unknown due to the small number of his works. other people had helped to identify premier's paintings. but credit for truly resurrecting the painter's legacy goes to toby ah, guided by comments written by a berlin museum director tal. his journey eventually took him to dresden there in the royal gallery of augustus. the 3rd top a was able to identify 2 works by yon premier, a triumph ah, among all the old masters on the walls. with these 2, he recognized something ineffable. he'd seen it and all the other premier paintings in brussels, berlin, and vienna. they had been painted by the hand of vermeer. ah, for me i list if she listens unbidden, often for mere leaves, a great deal in his paintings. open an unresolved prop. he works with nuances postponed. and in general, with subtle modification. thus, with what we call the atmospheric in these and in doing so, he entices us into this atmosphere ish. it seeped him build on, and i, i enjoy it in a way. he introduces ambiguity and coaxes our imagination so that we think that something unresolved that we want to take a better look at to find out more astonished. question on you. stop bringing this picture to life in your mind and my cough to the spirit, to believe them. on when it comes to the relationship between a work of often it's observer kong, what could be better? what's his dea, a monkey, not soon. ah, abby vandeveer has spent years examining what is indisputably one of the most famous paintings in the history of art. premier's girl with the pearl airing of painting that's been celebrated on the big screen, interpreted and reinterpreted over the centuries by a host of observers from the church to royalty, art historians and museum directors to day scientific experts deploy state of the art analysis. really, we wanted to see with these new technologies and with an group of international researchers with lots of different equipment and lots of different expertise, bringing them altogether and find out how much we could find out about the painting as a whole. and from that, some amazing discoveries came up that we hadn't even expected from the beginning. modern technology, shifting the narrative, when it comes to old masterpieces. the new technological options are tantalizing. with their promise to let us take a peek over the artists shoulder during the process of creation. ah we took the painting offer for usual spot here on the wall and brought her to the golden room of the modus house and especially built easel inside a glass enclosure. and within that enclosure, over a 2 week period, scientists and their equipment. we're used to examine the painting to day scientific analyses routinely use a wide range of imaging devices such as x rays and infrared reflex ta graphy. microscopic examinations and even invasive microscopic procedures take place and sterile laboratories. and sometimes in full view of the public, it was important for us to keep the painting visible to the public because this is a very important painting that the public love very much. after all, who doesn't love the painting dubbed the mona lisa of the north. the girl with the blue turban and that irresistible glint in her eye, and of course the earring, a mere whisper of white premier's masterpiece, has practically become a pop culture event. with modern discoveries, drawing a new generation of visitors, we knew from samples that were taken in the 19 ninety's that originally the background had a different color that on top of a black under layer for mere applied a glaze that contains to pigments. one of them blue, indigo, and one of them yellow called weld. so this glazed, this transparent layer on top would have been a very dark green. but then in the top right corner we discovered some diagonal lines. so with this information and the knowledge now that these pigments, these yellow and blue pigments were used, makes us now realized that the background was originally a green curtain. the last green curtain, the tension between concealment and revelation. it draws us in. now what had begun with an x ray analysis for decades ago was set to be resolved. the initial discovery was ignored by international art scholars who assumed the over painting had been done by premier himself. but had it under the expectant d among the experts who advised augustus the third's ancient in paris was the flemish man. i was bent the painter under restorer. how could this shall young battista slots slots is and he was famous for his talent for storing in really painting. i'm touching up works shihean, including venza, flemish and dutch pain tessa made this in the same way now that he also restored a number of paintings from the carrying yano collection in prior to that arrival in placed enough. grayson combs and upset now doesn't of all we can santa call us whether that girl reading a letter was one of these is, is, but it's a legitimate assumption. anthony, in perhaps m by artists, or restorers who came along later wanted to a sort of update the paintings to appeal more to the sensibilities of the time. so for instance, young woman reading a letter at an open window, perhaps in the time that it was over painted. they wanted to the viewer to concentrate on the stillness, the beauty, the concentration of the woman and not be distracted by the cupid behind her. was blood speculative vow homeless to lisa romaneli. mm hm. and why it was over painted remains a point of speculation and will never be precisely explained. i know quick tour for me. it seems like a subsequent correction for me. it's a very early vermeer dish between beulah uncorked than consisted a of i can't of so and if you look at it later, paintings your, he largely leaves out allegorical additions like this were fun from ya and cause who can as i was faxed as perhaps some connoisseur of him is works at night. he never would have painted it like that in his later period. that's corrected as he would have an arrays this fresco in the back on stay desert jesus to the fresco sikander. in 2019 the cml de galleria greeted the art sensation of the year. the picture had a new feature, cupid, the god of love and desire. i don't teach loss of him when we decided to restore the girl reading a letter we made use of all available analytical techniques was into a great surprise of it. we realized that this over painting was not by vermeer him, but must have been done several decades later by someone else to athens animals as good as, as the painting was bought and brought to tristan as a rembrandt. but this strange and rowdy cupid in the background would have been out of place in france is just the past. a revelation, a more colorful, playful side to vermeer. but what would the expert say? an international team gathered to hear the man in charge of restoration. explain why the gear feared i english by doris de leon dot. oh, he knows that's the mind what a strategy for the restoration seeks to do is to put the painting in the condition in which it might have left the art studio hunter. as i'll have my talk initially, it was a shock and i did this opens up whole new avenues of interpretation in lucas kaiden . and i told me unquestionably exposing the cupid figure gives the picture of our clearer message. oh, eager kid, come on of oh, fog. but almost us all. conversely, you can also ask why the so called original is so important. why come back in times it for sure you can say, because this was al vermeer painted it off likely for me as if we now claim to be capable of recreating the original picture in that we would have to 1st learn to see things as they did in the 17th century, read aloud and v m. zip to ya. not say about suzanne. there is the tendency to have to weigh the historical value of changes that have happened to an object over time versus the artist's original intention. and is it important to preserve those historical changes or to bring back a painting as close as it was to when vermeer painted it? ah, it's a debate that now accompanies the work of yon vermeer like a shadow. and i have i it is. and that decision was also a brave one with the previous history going back to 1979, people knew after the x ray that there was something underneath i birth 121 that does a showed which i was in mine, all of the french shine, chrome was on of the of like, should have said, yes, we do know about the over painting and what used to be hidden behind it. and a happy to pass on that knowledge is this game that we can still live with how it's been for centuries, him leap because that's also a part of its history. his job. and now this over painting is in turn being a raised visit grandma. so removing the paint is tantamount to a rising history fast. so it was, fiona gushed softer. all bermonte ramado victor. and in my experience, people are really excited when there is a new discovery about a painting that they have known for a long time. but on the other hand, there are also people who have known the painting to look this way for a very long time for hundreds of years. this paint has looked this way and it's going to take a certain amount of time to get used to how it looks now and to really rethink what this means within from years over i t latest kind of money. in theory, i could always return it to that to addition, which i did other, but it's now been liberated with a scalpel that was used to scrape off the lance and then an english teacher. if i turn on the elementary. another pleasant effect is that the college now radiate a completely different vibrancy cough to for the sooner. and the beautiful thing about the vermeer painting as it was until now. a list on is that it allows us to develop our own ideas on it. so i can quit months or you could talk about for mere appealing to mature fewest hotter. i am an appeal to our sense of mystery. perhaps this explains the enduring fascination exerted by the works of yon vermeer . an artist who used enigma to stimulate viewers imagination by leaving so many interpretations open. vermeer can be seen as offering up a fundamentally democratic perspective in his art. and it was a king and dresden, who was one of the 1st in europe to open up this world to his subjects. his pub gallery gave every one the opportunity to contemplate art as august. it's it is gus. just a 3rd is famous for being a real lover of painting. the give. this is illustrated in an anecdote about the sistine chapel, madonna, by rafael english. a little of this painting had been acquired in italy after very complex negotiations that took about a year. and then it finally arrives in placed in one. it was carried into the throne room with a king himself single handedly pushes his throne to one side and says, make way for the great raphael. the king made way for art. yon fonder man or yon of the sea, as he was sometimes called a painter who left vacant spaces in his art to spur our imaginations. a tantalizing promise of freedom. premier's masterpieces ended up in museums which have always served both as cultural arbiters and oases of freethinking every day. thousands of people view his paintings works originally intended only for private consumption by prosperous citizens of 17th century delft adorning the dark walls of dutch townhouses. but what is it that we see in his art, and what role do museums play to day? are these traditional sanctuaries of independent thinking, becoming increasingly compromised? the moods of to gig, if we look at the present and the current culture was affected, we see ethics becoming increasingly important. vote on and artistic liberty no longer enjoying the same automatic respect that it used to invite us sit on zia, i english posts by the by the f. one notable example is the saatchi gallery in london. or does it have a series of high profile scandals where the point was always to stir up the audience in order to generate headlines and visit numbers? who can o'neill when you're typing plots? and suddenly we had the case of 2 paintings going on display that was so outrageous and problematic for some people that the gallery ended up deciding to cover them up . i heard these, you could even call it the veneer effect as due to the sudden boom and interest in family outfit. men just said sisters and tessa and isn't ruin the motto, stikes and does the cell director should. that's the dialect, co logic and all of these current conflicts the, the artists who supposed to be banished and taken down the cloud enjoy an amazing amount of attention, making them a lot more popular polio nazi for. so what this repressing or even removing of things leads to is, if anything, people really starting to talk about these poems or paintings. sluggish quote. are we seeing a contemporary revival of the a conic lasts? museums are increasingly becoming cultural battle grounds as debates rage over what should be shown. many museums have their roots and a monarchy system. today, their narrative authority is compromised. each alameda, and he and i believe the future lies in an involving public. few filed fun for his one in exec are growing social diversity digital natives in the alternative perspectives. they bring a congenital kind of twin as iran game and, and we have to provide this public with a meaningful framework. but here the old masters comply a special rollin lance, lance i. tom also advised invisalign anchor dead, have been an anchor for generations. they provide continuity passing on both love and knowledge of this. and i take it in after spending 300 years in our collective consciousness, girl reading a letter has been consigned to history. making way for new interpretations meet their high legal the unveiling as the cheaper it makes the genre of the less a clear belief. i enjoy tish albert, but questions remain so east as even im, seeing that anna, is this a faithful love? briefly, aveena love form. the form of love remains ambivalent and enigmatically loved. in the obvious symbolism connected to the playing card is covered up by the painted curtain. he is able to wake him. be for home. for whom on stan, this is the route to the ambiguity and the mystery lead then remains the thumb. oh, light ah . the eternal mystery of a love story revealed now by the uncovering of a cupid. should some things remain secret? what does art history stand to gain a new vermeer? the original art work. a new debate. ah. the mystery of vermeer will continue to beguile us that much, his certain, ah, ah, with artificial intelligence can be an engine for economic growth. in the indian state of corolla k, i is creating new jobs, especially for women therapy, opportunities for advancement and equal rights are offering new prospects for well educated women. even those living outside major cities played in germany. in 30 minutes on d. w. ah . and they will say will make the agenda you just did agenda love on banning thing that way, but i'm not even have to watch like oh and everyone was laid holes and everything just getting are you ready to meet the gym and then join me right. just do it on d w. so i was just rescuing daughter from a farm. this one the body globally. you know, i found it like this and i couldn't just leave it there. i should meet. 2 2 you, this is such a great burden. it was so dirty that cleaning it, turn the entire bathroom into a mess. this is the water birds 1st as well, but one of the most beautiful moments i've ever experienced with a donkey series about our complex relationship with animals. well, i think i will live long enough to witness the factory farming the great debate this week on d. w or ah, this is d w news, and these are our top stories. a russian warplane has collided with a us drone over the black sea. washington says the incident was caused by what it's calling a reckless act by 2 russian fighter jets u. s. officials say one of the jets struck the propeller of the.