A girl reading a letter at an open window

The prototype of circa 1659, oil on canvas, 83 x 64.5 cm, is in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden. It was recognised as by Vermeer by G.F. Waagen in 1858. In the eighteenth Century, it had been attributed to Rembrandt; but in 1783 it was engraved as the work of Flinck, an attribution retained until 1856 when it was given to Pieter de Hooch. In 1862 the Gemäldegalerie first published the prototype as a work by Vermeer, following Waagen's remarks of a few years before (A. Blankert, Vermeer of Delft - Complete Edition of the Paintings, 1978, pp.156/7, no.6, ill.).