Woman Writing a Letter With her Maid

Vermeer’s 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.

Woman Writing a Letter is one of the most ingenious compositions of the artist’s late career. While a maidservant gazes out of a window, her mistress writes an epistle.

In the foreground on the floor lie a red seal, a stick of sealing wax and an object which is either a crumpled letter or a letter-Writing manual, a standard aid for personal correspondence at the time.

Johannes Vermeer

Oil on Canvas