The Music Lesson  The Music Lesson, Woman Seated at a Virginal or A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman by Johannes Vermeer is a painting of a young female pupil receiving a music lesson from a man. The man's mouth is slightly agape giving the impression that he is singing along with the music that the young girl is playing. This suggests that there is a relationship between the two figures and the idea of love and music being bridged together. This was a common theme among Netherlandish art in this time period. Vermeer uses linear perspective and his invention of the camera pictura to create the illusion of space and depth within the setting of the painted room. Vermeer consistently used the same objects within his paintings such as the draped rug, the white water jug, various instruments, tiled floor and windows that convey light and shadows. This is one of few paintings produced by Vermeer which were kept in his home until his death in 1675 when his family was forced to sell them. It became a part of the Royal Collection, and it is currently on display in the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London. The picture was sold in May 1696 in Delft, part of the collection of Jacob Dissous, which included many Vermeers. It was later acquired by Venetian artist Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini in 1718, with Pellegrini's collection later being bought by Joseph Smith. "The Music Lesson" has been part of the Royal Collection of Great Britain since 1762, when King George III bought Smith's collection of paintings. When the painting was acquired it was believed to be a work by Frans van Mieris the elder because of a misinterpretation of the signature. It was not correctly attributed to Vermeer until 1866 by Théophile Thoré, though some scholars were skeptical whether it was Vermeer or not. It has at various times been kept at both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and is depicted in Charles Wild's "Windsor Castle: the King's Closet, 1816", a watercolour prepared for William Pyne's "History of the Royal Residences". The painting was investigated by Hermann Kühn in 1968 and there is also material on the pigment analysis on the website of the National Gallery in London where the painting was included in the exhibition "Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure" in 2013. "The Music Lesson" is a mature work of Vermeer and his handling of color and his choice of painting materials is but one of the aspects proving his mastery.