Two near-identical paintings. One great Dutch master. And a mystery that has spanned more than 350 years. In this episode of The English Heritage Podcast, Amy Matthews travels to Kenwood to explore “The Guitar Player”, Johannes Vermeer’s celebrated painting, and its striking counterpart from the Philadelphia Art Museum. Displayed side by side for the first time, these two works are inviting spirited debate from visitors, and cutting-edge research too.

English Heritage’s Wendy Monkhouse, Ella Letort and Alice Tate-Harte take Amy through questions of authorship, technique, condition, and provenance. From pigment analysis and imaging technologies to the marks of time visible on canvas, this episode reveals how art history and science work together to interrogate one of the most intriguing puzzles in Vermeer scholarship.

Look closely and decide for yourself: are these two paintings the work of the same hand or do their subtle differences tell another story?

You can find out more about this collaboration with the National Gallery (London), the National Gallery of Art (Washington) and the Philadelphia Art Museum in the notes below.

Episode Notes

The scientific research on the Philadelphia painting was undertaken by:

Dr. Kate Duffy (Senior Scientist)

Dr. Aleksandra Popowich (Conservation Scientist)

Mark Tucker (The Neubauer Family Director of Conservation), Philadelphia Art Museum

In collaboration with:

Dr. John Delaney (Senior Imaging Scientist)

Dr. Kate Dooley (Imaging Scientist), National Gallery of Art, Washington

The scientific research on the Kenwood painting was carried out by:

Dr. Helen Howard (Senior Scientist)

Dr. Marta Melchiorre Di Crescenzo (Senior Scientist), National Gallery, London

In collaboration with:

Dr. John Delaney (Senior Imaging Scientist)

Dr. Kate Dooley (Imaging Scientist), National Gallery of Art, Washington

Alice Tate-Harte (Paintings Conservator), English Heritage

Curatorial research was carried out by:

Dr. Jennifer Thompson (The Gloria and Jack Drosdick Curator of European Painting and Sculpture and Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection)

Dr. Wendy Monkhouse (Senior Curator, English Heritage)

Ella Letort (Curator, Kenwood House)

You can find out more about the scientific research in this online article: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenwood/history-stories-kenwood/guitar_player_vermeer/

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