Letter reader in blue
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| Letter reader in blue |
|---|
| Jan Vermeer , 1662–1664 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 46.5 × 39 cm |
| Rijksmuseum Amsterdam |
Letter Reader in Blue is an oil painting by Jan Vermeer , created between 1662 and 1664. The picture 46.5 centimeters high and 39 centimeters wide shows a woman reading a letter. It is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam .
Image description
The picture letter reader in blue shows a standing woman who is absorbed in reading a letter. She is shown in profile , wearing a blue short-sleeved jacket and wearing a bun. The woman is probably pregnant , which is why the older literature on Vermeer speculated whether it was his wife. The meaning of the picture arises from the contrast between the respectability of marriage and the letter reading, which suggests a secret love affair.
In the background there is a large wall map of the Netherlands, which can also be seen in Vermeer's painting The Soldier and the Laughing Girl . At the left edge of the picture in the background on the wall and in the front right in the picture corner are two chairs of the same type. The woman is standing behind a table with a pearl necklace, a jewelry box and a scarf that have been interpreted as a symbol of vanitas .
Aftermath
The letter reader in blue was bequeathed to the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam in 1885 . There Vincent van Gogh saw it, among others , who then wrote to Émile Bernard about Vermeer :
“Do you know a painter named Vermeer? He painted the dignified and beautiful figure of a pregnant Dutch woman. The color spectrum consists of blue, lemon yellow, pearl gray and white. It is true that in the few pictures we have of him one can find all the colors in the palette; but it is characteristic of him that he combines lemon yellow, a dull blue and a light gray, just as Velasquez binds black, white, gray and pink into one harmony. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gottfried Sello: A family tree to be viewed , in: Die Zeit , August 5, 1966.
literature
- Norbert Schneider: Vermeer - all paintings . Taschen, Cologne 2004. ISBN 3-8228-6377-7 .
- DuMont: Vermeer . DuMont Literature and Art Publishing, Cologne 2003. ISBN 3-8321-7339-0 .
Web links
- Letter reader in blue on rijksmuseum.nl
- Letter reader in blue on essentialvermeer.com