The love letter
|
| The love letter |
|---|
| Jan Vermeer , 1669/1670 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 44 × 38.5 cm |
| Rijksmuseum |
The love letter is a painting by Jan Vermeer , which was created in 1669/1670. The 44 centimeter high and 38.5 centimeter wide oil painting shows a scene between a mistress and a maid. The picture is currentlyon displayin the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam .
Image description
The viewer of the picture can see into a bright room through a dark anteroom. On the right edge of the picture in the anteroom is a chair with music notes. A curtain is clamped over the chair and hangs over the right half of the passage at the top of the picture. In the middle of the second room the lady of the house is sitting on a chair with a lute on her lap. In her right hand she is holding a letter that the maid gave her shortly before. The mistress looks up at the maid, although her feelings cannot be clearly classified from the look. The content of the letter is also not determined by attributes, but the title of the picture has become a love letter . The decor of the room is luxurious with the two paintings on the back wall and the gold leather trim.
Provenance
The love letter was auctioned on March 29, 1892 in Amsterdam. The picture was then in the possession of Vereniging Rembrandt in 1892/1893 , which transferred it to the Rijksmuseum in 1893 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jeroen Giltaij: The magic of the everyday. Dutch painting from Adriaen Brouwer to Johannes Vermeer . Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern-Ruit 2005. Page 252.
literature
- Norbert Schneider: Vermeer all paintings . Taschen, Cologne 2004. ISBN 3-8228-6377-7
- Arthur K. Wheelock: Vermeer . 2nd Edition. DuMont Literature and Art Publishing, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-8321-7339-0 , ( DuMont's library of great painters ).
- Jeroen Giltaij, Peter Hecht: The magic of the everyday. Dutch painting from Adriaen Brouwer to Johannes Vermeer . Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern-Ruit 2005, ISBN 3-7757-1522-3 , (exhibition catalog).
