The Concert by Vermeer: The World’s Most Wanted Painting

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A painting nobody has seen since 1990

On the night of 18 March 1990, thieves disguised as police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and stole thirteen works. Vermeer’s The Concert was among them. It has never been recovered and is often described as the most valuable stolen painting in the world.

The museum still displays the empty frame where it hung. Vermeer painted it around 1664.

Three musicians in a quiet room

Young woman in a satin skirt seated at a harpsichord — The young woman at the harpsichord.

A young woman in a pale satin skirt sits at a harpsichord. Beside her, a man seen from behind plays a lute, though only his back and shoulder are visible.

Standing woman holding a sheet of music and raising her hand — The singer keeps time.

At the right, a second woman stands holding a sheet of music, singing and keeping time with her raised hand. The three seem absorbed in the music.

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The Concert, painted by hand

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Paintings that comment on the scene

Painted landscape on the harpsichord lid behind the lute player — A landscape on the harpsichord lid.

The open lid of the harpsichord is painted with a landscape. On the wall hang two paintings: a wild landscape at the left and, at the right, The Procuress by Dirck van Baburen, a brothel scene that Vermeer’s family owned.

Dark painting of a brothel scene hanging on the wall — Baburen’s Procuress on the wall.

Some see the contrast between the harmonious music and the brothel scene as a moral comment on love and temptation. Vermeer leaves it implicit.

A viola da gamba on the floor

Viola da gamba lying on a black and white tiled floor — An instrument on the floor.

In the foreground, a viola da gamba lies on the black and white tiled floor, beside a table covered with a heavy carpet. The empty foreground keeps the viewer at a distance from the musicians.

Questions about The Concert

Where is The Concert now?

Its location is unknown. It was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990.

When was it painted?

Around 1664.

What is the painting on the wall?

The Procuress by Dirck van Baburen, which belonged to Vermeer’s family.

How large is it?

About 72.5 × 64.7 centimetres, oil on canvas.

Sources and image credit

Public-domain reproduction of The Concert (about 1664), via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same historical image; no reconstruction or upscaling.