Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675)
The Lacemaker (De kantwerkster)
1669–1670
Oil on canvas transferred to panel, 24 x 21 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
The motif of the lacemaker at work is traditionally a sign of domestic virtue, tinged with religious moralism (the book, on the right, is undoubtedly a small Bible or prayer book). Either a housewife and of high social standing (no proof that she is the painter’s wife) and not a professional lacemaker. On the left, a sewing bag resembling a cushion from which colored threads escape, very well rendered, an almost blurred close-up vision reinforcing the very precise rendering of the second shot. The light comes from the right, which is rather rare for Vermeer. Tracing drawing from the end of the 18th century. at the Boymans Museum, Rotterdam, inserting the character of Vermeer‘s lacemaker in a niche (cf. Van Gelder, 1972), using a watercolor by Jan Stolker (1724-1785) who is responsible for this fiction: we must obviously exclude that the M.I. 1448 was cut (cf. Blankert, 1986). – Dated quite late in the artist’s work, around 1669–1670. (Louvre)
The Lacemaker in Film:
La dentellière
1977
Director: Claude Goretta
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Yves Beneyton