The Astronomer

It is possible that the date and signature were added later, but the work probably dates from this time. The broad frame with red veneers and black veins is Dutch and dates from the mid-seventeenth century. It was in 1983 that The Astronomer joined Vermeer's other painting on the walls of the Louvre, the no less famous The Lacemaker: they are the only two paintings of the artist preserved in the French national collections.