Maid with milk jug
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| Maid with milk jug |
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| Jan Vermeer , 1658-1660 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 45.5 × 41 cm |
| Rijksmuseum Amsterdam |
Maid with milk jug is an oil painting by Jan Vermeer between 1658 and 1660 . The 45.5 centimeter high and 41 centimeter wide picture shows a maid pouring milk in a residential building. The work has been in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam since 1908 .
Image description
In the center of the picture, the woman is standing in the light through a window on the left. In front of her, in the foreground on the left, under this very window, is a table covered with a cloth and equipped with a bread basket, a jug and other dishes. There is also a bowl on the table in which the maid pours milk. Your gaze is lowered, focused on the activity. Their clothes were painted in bright, bright colors. The yellow top is in contrast to the blue of the apron, under which a long red skirt peeks out. The room in the background is spartan, the back wall empty and provided with recognizable holes, which gives it the appearance of being used for a long time.
With X-ray examinations of the image has been demonstrated that Vermeer originally displaying a map was provided on the bare wall. By painting over this luxurious object for the time, he underlined the simple furnishing of the room.
Provenance
The painting is one of Vermeer's best-known pictures and was highly valued at an early stage. This was reflected, for example, in the relatively high price of 175 guilders when the estate of Jan Vermeer was sold, as well as in a description of the picture from 1719 as The famous Milkmaid by Vermeer van Delft, artistic . As a result, the picture changed hands several times until it was acquired for the Rijksmuseum in 1908 along with 39 other paintings from the Jan Six collection .
Individual evidence
- ^ Norbert Schneider: Vermeer - all paintings . Taschen, Cologne 2004. page 61.
literature
- Norbert Schneider: Vermeer - all paintings . Taschen, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-8228-6377-7
- Arthur K. Wheelock: Vermeer . DuMont literature and art publishing house, Cologne 2003, 166 pp., ISBN 3-8321-7339-0
