Cutting edge imaging technology has revealed two earlier stages of Johannes Vermeer’s The Milkmaid from 1657 to 1658. The findings offer a fresh look at how the Dutch master built his iconic scene and how preparation shaped the final painting. This revelation emerged as part of a major Vermeer exhibition planned for the coming year, announced in Amsterdam at a Rijksmuseum press conference on September 8.
Final scans identified an underpainting that served as the initial blueprint for the composition. This early layer showed a different arrangement, with a jug and a fire basket present before Vermeer overpainted them to craft the finished scene. The discovery underscores the depth of Vermeer’s process and the level of planning involved in his intimate domestic tableaux.
The Rijksmuseum’s general manager, Taco Dibbits, remarked that the extent of work already documented on The Milkmaid makes today’s precise technological discoveries all the more striking. The comments were shared during a moment of heightened anticipation for the forthcoming exhibition that will contextualize this painting within Vermeer’s wider oeuvre.
The Milkmaid is celebrated for its quiet depiction of a middle class domestic moment. The scene centers on a young woman pouring milk from a jug into a bowl placed on a table at the heart of the composition. Surrounding objects include a towel and an array of items that convey a lived-in interior. Behind the figure, baskets and a simple Dutch interior complete the scene, with a wall-mounted arrangement that hints at a practical, working kitchen space.
Using newly available scanning techniques, researchers traced a preliminary sketch hidden beneath the final glaze. The analysis revealed a head outline in dark pigment, suggestive of a young woman’s features as part of the original concept. The lower right corner area exposes a basket and a fire basket woven from willow stems, structures designed to hold and warm warming elements in seventeenth century kitchens. The examination suggests that Vermeer experimented with multiple configurations while planning the painting and then executed a refined version that aligned with his characteristic attention to light, texture, and domestic detail.
Historical records indicate Vermeer’s home environment included functional tools like a jug stand and a batten used to suspend pottery from handles, which correspond to elements found within the painting. The new underpainting indicates that Vermeer integrated such practical items into the imagined domestic setting, then selectively painted them into or out of view to achieve the final composition. The presence of a fire basket, along with a foot-operated stove and ceramic tiles, points to the painter’s awareness of how everyday objects could convey warmth, utility, and atmosphere on canvas. Vermeer is known to have drawn from his personal surroundings, including a large family environment, as a source of inspiration and realism in his work.
Overall, the enhanced understanding of The Milkmaid’s early planning stages enriches the interpretation of Vermeer’s method. The underpainting demonstrates that the final work emerged from a deliberately staged sequence of elements that were refined through repeated revisions, testing, and adjustments. This discovery adds another layer to the appreciation of Vermeer’s precision in rendering light, texture, and surface, while also illustrating how past techniques can be uncovered through modern technology and careful scholarship. The ongoing exhibition promises deeper insights into the artist’s approach, inviting viewers to reconsider the relationship between preparation, choice, and outcome in one of the Dutch Baroque era’s most beloved works.