Focus on this artwork and analyze the Attribution.
The painting's attribution has been questioned since 1942, although prior to 2022 it was generally cautiously attributed to Vermeer.In October 2022 the National Gallery of Art announced that while the museum was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, its team of conservators, curators, and scientists examined the painting using microscopic pigment analysis and advanced imaging technology, and concluded that the work was not painted by Vermeer, and that as of October 8, 2022, the gallery would change the attribution of the painting to "Studio of Johannes Vermeer". There had been suspicions in the past that Vermeer may have begun the piece but another artist finished the work; however the National Gallery of Art's team of curators, art historians, conservators, research conservators, research scientists, and imaging scientists concluded, based on the "fatal flaws" in execution they discovered in every layer and every stage of the painting, that Vermeer had no involvement in painting any of it.
The National Gallery of Art concluded that The mystery artist who painted Girl with a Flute was familiar with Vermeer’s unique methods and materials, but unable to achieve his level of expertise. They may have been a pupil or apprentice in training, an amateur who paid Vermeer for lessons, a freelance painter hired on a project-by-project basis, or even a member of Vermeer’s family.
In his 2013 book Vermeer's Family Secrets: Genius, Discovery, and the Unknown Apprentice, Benjamin Binstock made an extensive case that Vermeer's eldest child Maria (born 1654) is the author of this and several other "misfit" Vermeer paintings. The National Gallery of Art's 2022 report noted that "While it is conceivable that Maria received instruction from her father and produced paintings in his manner while still in her late teens, prior to her marriage in 1674, the absence of proof to the contrary does not constitute support for Binstock's provocative suggestion."In response to the  National Gallery of Art's de-attribution announcement, Eric Jan Sluijter, professor of art history emeritus at the University of Amsterdam, argued that although the NGA's research was "hard to dismiss", he did not think they were indisputably right on all details. He noted that Girl with the Red Hat is also painted on wood, it is a similar composition to Girl with a Flute, and in his view it has similar deviations from Vermeer's technique. Rijksmuseum curator Pieter Roelofs decided to label the painting as an authentic Vermeer in the Rijksmuseum's 2023 Vermeer exhibition, the biggest Vermeer exhibition ever with 27 paintings aside from Girl with a Flute.
Amsterdam National Gallery of Art right Johannes Vermeer Pieter Roelofs COVID-19 pandemic Rijksmuseum