You can’t see all the detail with main strip lighting

IT is a work by the Dutch master Johannes Vermeer that has been admired by thousands who have passed through the doors of Kenwood House.

But this week curators at the mansion next to Hampstead Heath, which holds a remarkable art collection, told how detail in The Guitar Player has been discovered – and all because of a new lighting system.

As electricians came in to install new lamps, the painting was removed from behind a pane of glass which has protected it for 150 years and given a clean.

But as staff looked at it using candlelight – as Vermeer would have expected it to have been seen with – they were thrilled to find a series of visual light and shadow tricks that the painter had included.

Curator Louise Cooling told the New Journal that Vermeer’s technique – not noticeable under electric light but now revealed in all its glory – included the translucent quality of the pearls around her neck, which look three-dimen­sional, and a fingerprint, believed to the artist’s own, in one corner.

Ms Cooling said: “To be able to examine Vermeer’s The Guitar Player by candlelight, as it originally would have been viewed, has been a really special experience. It has allowed us to see up close the layers of paint, the different colours and textures employed by the artist, as well as the depth, which would have given a 3D element to the painting for its 17th-century audience. The flickers of the candlelight flame really highlight the sitter’s luminescent pearls and show detail normally unseen.”

She added that the new LED lighting would help them conserve the collection, which includes pieces by Joshua Reynolds and Rembrandt.

The Guitar Player is one of just 34 paintings identified as being by Vermeer, and it is believed the girl featured in it is his daughter, Maria.

The painting is now hanging in the Kenwood House dining room. The estate is managed by English Heritage.

Ms Cooling said: “Now the painting is again on the wall, we hope our new LED lights will improve the way visitors see these masterpieces, and help them see these remarkable levels of detail.”

Vermeer died in 1675, aged only 43. His work inspired Highgate author Tracey Chevalier to write bestseller, The Girl With The Pearl Earring, a fictionalised account of his relationship with a model and the creation of one his most famous works.