One of Vermeer's Most Famous Works Has a Hidden Painting Inside

At some point during its 360-year lifespan, Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window” received a massive makeover that was just recently undone. Thanks to a restoration effort 40 years in the making, Vermeer’s painting now looks just like it did when it left the artists’ studio back in 1659.In 1979, an x-ray of the piece showed that the bare wall behind the girl wasn’t actually bare at all.