On 5 Dec 1995, Peter W.K. Franke wrote:

> [log in to unmask] meinte am 03.12.95
> zum Thema "Re: Vermeer Show":
>
> >  I don't know when it closes in Washington, but it opens
> >  in The Hague on 1st March.
> >  The leaflet I have says that it contains 'more than 20'
> >  of Vermeer's paintings.
>
> Thats quiet a lot and they are all overcleaned! The only two
> pieces in the original state are in Dresden (Germany) and Vienna
> (Austria).
>
> At least only about 36 pictures of Vermeer are known.
> The title of the show is, so far as I know, "Vermeer in a new
> light" (?). They are all looking now as impressionists works.
> Nothing of the dark parts in these paintings resists the
> cleaning.
>
> It is very hard for me to see this pictures today. They haven't a
> surface any more and they are destroyed therefore.
> There is no way back to the original state!
> The cleaning itself was a show for the public. Thats not a good
> idea, as I think, because there is too much irritation around. I
> mean it's a hard thing they did with Vermeer.
>
> Let's bury this part of arthistory now, because all actions done
> with his paintings are irreversible.
>
> Crying
> Peter
>
> --
> _Peter W.K. Franke_
> *Saarbr|cken  [log in to unmask]  T. +49 681 35334*
> ## CrossPoint v3.1 ##

       Dry your tears, Peter. The Vermeers have not been overcleaned, or
damaged in any way. Your reaction is similar to mine when I saw
Rembrandt's "Night Watch" in the Rijksmuseum after it had been cleaned
during the repairs when it was slashed. It wasn't *night* any more!
       But what they had done--and what has been done with the
Vermeers--is return the painting to as nearly its original state as
possible without imposing new pigment on it (beyond the occasional
infilling of missing flakes).
       They look different, yes. But what they look like now is much more
what their creators intended. And they are gorgeous, each and every one.
       The Sistine Chapel, on the other hand....

        Hank Burchard * [log in to unmask] * Washington DC