Girl with the Red Hat

What you are looking at

A young woman in a blue robe and a large red feathered hat turns toward us, lips parted, with light glinting off her earring and the lion-head finials of her chair.

Why it is famous

It is one of Vermeer's smallest works, painted on a wooden panel, and like Girl with a Pearl Earring it is a study of a face rather than a portrait of a known person.

How big is Girl with the Red Hat?

Girl with the Red Hat measures 22.8 × 18 cm (9.0 × 7.1 in), without its frame. It is smaller than the Mona Lisa: about 10% of its area.

Compare it with other paintings

Where to see it

It is at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Museums move and lend paintings. Check the museum's website before you travel to see one work. See all famous paintings in Washington, DC.

More by Johannes Vermeer

The MilkmaidJohannes Vermeer, c. 1660 AmsterdamView of DelftJohannes Vermeer, c. 1660 to 1661 The HagueYoung Woman with a Water PitcherJohannes Vermeer, c. 1662 New YorkWoman Holding a BalanceJohannes Vermeer, c. 1664 Washington, DCGirl with a Pearl EarringJohannes Vermeer, c. 1665 The Hague

All Johannes Vermeer paintings

Also at the National Gallery of Art

Ginevra de' BenciLeonardo da Vinci, c. 1474 to 1478 Washington, DCWatson and the SharkJohn Singleton Copley, 1778 Washington, DCNapoleon in His StudyJacques-Louis David, 1812 Washington, DCBreezing Up (A Fair Wind)Winslow Homer, 1873 to 1876 Washington, DCWoman with a ParasolClaude Monet, 1875 Washington, DCThe Japanese FootbridgeClaude Monet, 1899 Washington, DC

Sources: National Gallery of Art, Girl with the Red Hat (1937.1.53), open data. Checked October 17, 2026. How we check.