The Procuress

Working in tempera, Johannes Vermeer painted this early scene in 1656 showing a crude transaction between a soldier and a smiling young woman, with an older woman and grinning man watching the exchange. The soldier offers coins while touching the woman's breast, a commercial exchange observed by a procuress dressed in black. The composition derives from Utrecht Caravaggisti examples that Vermeer studied.

This painting marks Vermeer's transition from historical and religious subjects to the genre scenes he would master. The figure at left in the black beret may be a self-portrait, watching the scene unfold as observer. Bold reds, yellows, and the characteristic lemon-yellow jacket create visual energy unusual in his later, quieter domestic interiors. It hangs at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, Germany.