Vermeer The Letter
Artist: Jan Vermeer (Dutch b. 1632 d. 1675)
Date: 1666
Dimensions: 17.25” x 15.25”
Medium: oil on canvas
Current location: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Period: Baroque
Genre: genre painting

Quick Notes:
  • Vermeer creates of a sense of voyeurism by placing the viewer in a broom closet in the
    foreground. We feel like we are spying on a scene not meant to be observed by outside
    eyes.
  • Like many of Vermeer’s interiors, the scene is lit from the left; although in this instance
    the window that usually appears in his paintings is unseen.
  • In Baroque art, instruments and the playing of music were suggestive of romance.
  • The painting on the wall behind the maidservant depicts sea travel. Does this suggest
    that the woman’s husband is away? Is the letter that the maidservant is delivering from
    the woman’s husband or someone else?

Suggested Compare-Contrast Target:
  • Grave Stele of Hegeso


Writing Prompts:
  • Write a narrative explaining the backstory to this composition.
  • What techniques does Vermeer use to create the illusion of depth in this composition?


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