Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675)
Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid (Schrijvende vrouw met dienstbode)
c.1670
Oil on canvas, 71.1 x 60.5 cm
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
Considered one of the principal Dutch painters, Vermeer specialised in genre scenes, many of which depict women in domestic settings. His work displays an unprecedented level of artistic mastery in its illusion of reality. His figures are often quiet and inactive, which contributes to the solemn and mysterious atmosphere of his paintings. Vermeer’s oeuvre is unusually small; probably as few as 36 pictures have survived.
Woman Writing a Letter is one of the artist’s most outstanding compositions and his most ambitious depiction of the theme of letter writing. While a maidservant gazes out of a window, her mistress writes an epistle. On the floor in the foreground lie a red seal, a stick of sealing wax and an object which is either a letter with a crumpled wrapper or a letter-writing manual, a standard aid for personal correspondence at the time. In either case, the suggestion is that the objects have been discarded by the lady in some agitation.
During his lifetime, Vermeer did not sell Woman Writing a Letter. After his death, his widow gave it and another painting to a local baker to cover her costs for bread. (NGI)