Woman Reading a Letter
by Johannes Vermeer, 1663
Artwork Details
Details
- Year
- 1663
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 46.5 cm × 39 cm
Cite or Embed This Work
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Johannes Vermeer painted this oil on canvas work in 1663 reflects the Baroque movement's influence on European art. As a Dutch artist, Johannes Vermeer brought specific cultural perspectives to their work.
Figure painting demonstrates understanding of human form and movement. Johannes Vermeer captures bodily presence through careful observation. Light and shadow model the figure with sculptural dimension and expressive weight.
Today the work held at Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Viewing the original reveals details of brushwork and color that reproductions cannot capture. The museum context places the work alongside related pieces from the same tradition. Those drawn to this style can explore figurative art for contemporary works in similar aesthetic traditions.
Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) was a Dutch artist working within the Baroque and Dutch Golden Age tradition.
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About Woman Reading a Letter
It's at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Vermeer painted it around 1663. A recent restoration (completed 2021) removed overpaint to reveal a large Cupid painting on the background wall that Vermeer had originally included.
For centuries, the background was a bare white wall. Researchers discovered that someone (possibly after Vermeer's death) painted over a large painting-within-a-painting showing Cupid. Restoring it transforms the meaning: the Cupid suggests the letter is a love letter, adding romantic context Vermeer intended.
She stands by a window in blue clothing, absorbed in reading a letter. Light falls on her face and the paper. She appears to be pregnant. The open window might symbolize connection to the outside world and the absent letter writer. Everything about the scene suggests quiet, private emotion.
It measures 46.5 cm × 39 cm (18.3 × 15.4 inches). The intimate scale is typical of Vermeer. Soft daylight illuminates the scene from the left. The Dutch Golden Age interior is sparse but carefully arranged: a table with a cloth, a bowl of fruit, a chair.
Only about 35 paintings by Vermeer are known to survive. He worked slowly and died young (age 43, in 1675) leaving his family in debt. His work was largely forgotten until the 1860s, when critic Théophile Thoré-Bürger rediscovered and championed him.
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