An old man seated at his desk before an open window, holding a book

This previously unpublished picture is an important addition to the oeuvre of this enigmatic artist, which consists of some thirty-eight paintings of domestic interiors, street scenes and church interiors. Only two other interiors with male protagonists by Vrel are known: A Weaver at his Loom, last seen at auction in Amsterdam in 1949; and A Barber in his Shop, last seen at auction in Paris in 1914 (see C. Brière-Misme, 'Jacob Vrel. Un 'intimiste' hollandaise', Revue de l'art ancient et modern, LXVIII, 1935, pp. 97-114, 157-72, notes 4 and 3 respectively). Vrel has been associated on stylistic grounds with the Delft school of painters in the circle of de Hooch and Vermeer, but this has been questioned as his Woman at a Window of 1654 predates comparable works by these two artists (Vienna, Kunsthistoriches Museum). Furthermore, his name does not feature in the Delft archives. Certain architectural elements in his street scenes may indicate that he worked in an outlying area such as Friesland, Flanders or the lower Rhineland, however the fact that two of his works are recorded in the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm suggests that he had ties with a major artistic centre.