Return to Vermeer's Masterpiece
The Milkmaid stands on the threshold between Vermeer's early work and his mature style. Its illusionism recalls that of Leiden artists like Gerrit Dou (1613–1675), Frans van Mieris, and Gabriël Metsu (see next image), but the classic balance of the composition and the extraordinary treatment of light are already distinctive of Vermeer and Delft. Nowhere else in his oeuvre does one find such a sculptural figure and such seemingly tangible objects, and yet the future painter of luminous interiors has already arrived. As if conforming to the play between optical and tactile qualities throughout the picture, the pointillé pattern of bright dots on the bread and basket, Vermeer's most effusive use of the scheme, suggests scintillating daylight and rough textures at the same time.The steady performance of domestic chores (here, possibly making bread porridge) was often praised in Dutch literature and pictures. But the playful image of Cupid next to the foot warmer (see detail)—which can also be a symbol of amorous thoughts—suggests that the robust young woman may be daydreaming about a man. For a male viewer of the period (in this case, Vermeer's patron Pieter van Ruijven), the hints of sexuality would have given the painting an element of fantasy as subtle as the shadows on the whitewashed walls.
This type of composition was called a nisstuk or vensternis ("niche-piece" or "window-niche") in the seventeenth century. Popularized in Leiden by Gerrit Dou (1613–1675), these pictures created the impression of peeking into private homes and the opportunity to display illusionistic effects. In its scale, careful description of objects, and illusionism, The Milkmaid responds to the work of Leiden artists, among whom Metsu is the most comparable with Vermeer in his treatment of light.The figure wears fine clothing, a white apron, tasteful makeup and jewelry, and a satisfied expression. She is a housewife, not a maid, and the picture pays routine tribute to domestic virtue. Motifs such as the birdcage and the "fruitful vine" (from Psalm 128) indicate contented confinement in the home and attachment to a husband. In this context, peeling apples may suggest chastity (recalling the Virgin as the New Eve) as well as wifely duty, and the butterflies may refer to the soul. The book could be religious or secular but is surely intended for edification.
This panel was painted in Delft about 1657 and is one of the first works by De Hooch to employ linear perspective effectively. The artist's earlier dependence upon figure groups, furniture, and contrasts of light and shadow to suggest three-dimensional space is still evident here, incongruously in the case of the underscaled bed. Hints of De Hooch's association with Vermeer are found in the study of light on the woman to the left and in her reflection in the window.Vermeer made similar but bolder progress in constructing interior space at about the same time, in pictures such as The Letter Reader (Old Masters Picture Gallery, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden) and The Milkmaid. But distinctive of De Hooch himself, and interesting for Vermeer, is the use of daylight and transparent shadows for the sense of space and suggestion of mood (compare Vermeer's Woman with a Lute). De Hooch would soon depict more luxurious rooms and superficially more polite behavior than appear in paintings like this important transitional work.
Sorgh spent his entire life in Rotterdam, where his father, Maerten Rochusse, ran a ferry service and handled freight with such care (sorgh) that he was given that nickname. Like other Rotterdam genre painters, Sorgh was influenced by the popular Flemish artist David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690). This thinly painted and somewhat worn panel dates from about 1643 and anticipates some aspects of Vermeer's domestic interiors, such as the abrupt recession from the left. The Delft artist achieves a more naturalistic effect by bringing the viewer in much closer to the scene, and through his more sophisticated study of daylight (although Sorgh's still-life motifs are impressive in this regard).In an earlier state of the composition, a young man entered from the right, apparently with a basket of fish for sale. As in other works by Sorgh, the offer was probably an erotic metaphor, and the original reason for the kitchen maids' expressions (compare the faces of Vermeer's "milkmaid" and "maid asleep") and for the amusement of the awkwardly placed couple in the background (now barely noticeable between the maids).
This large canvas is probably Vermeer's earliest picture of everyday life, and dates from slightly before The Milkmaid. The differences in scale and technique between the two works reflect the young painter's program of reviewing alternative styles in the Netherlandish art world of the time. Here the warm palette, rich shadows, and frontal presentation of the figure, the table, and walls recall genre scenes of the mid-1650s by Nicolaes Maes (see next image).Vermeer's subject is an overdressed maid, dozing and dreaming of love (the painting above her, with Cupid's leg, stands for "Love unmasked"). The recent presence of a male companion is suggested by the large glass (which has suffered wear) to the lower left, the bowl of fruit, the chair shoved aside, and the open door. This picture, The Milkmaid (in which a discreet sign of Cupid also accompanies the maid), and the approximately contemporary Cavalier and Young Woman (Officer and Laughing Girl) (Frick Collection) were evidently purchased by the Delft collector Pieter van Ruijven, who eventually owned as many as twenty-one works by Vermeer.
Maes studied with Rembrandt in Amsterdam during the early 1650s and then returned to his native Dordrecht, where he painted domestic scenes like this one. Soft light and shadows are employed to create an intimate space and a peaceful mood. Like Vermeer in The Milkmaid, Maes shows a kitchen maid concentrating with apparent contentment on a daily task. Dutch writers of the time (such as Jacob Cats) would have commended the young woman's modesty and diligence, although their usual heroine was a housewife. In this composition, the use of a table and vessels to add presence and stability to the isolated figure bears comparison with the arrangement in The Milkmaid, where the foot warmer could be said to take on the space-marking function that the oil lamp serves here.
In most of his early paintings, Vermeer offers a sympathetic view of women in service to someone else (whether Diana, Christ, a customer, or the mistress of a household). However, the artist's mature works are mainly concerned with courtship or with the type of woman to whom the seventeenth-century owner of such a picture might pay court. The subject here is an ideal woman in an ideal home, where beauty, luxury, and tranquility coexist. The map and jewelry box suggest worldliness, but the silver-gilt basin and pitcher would have been recognized (despite their expense) as a traditional symbol of purity. The linen scarves covering the woman's head and shoulders were usually worn during a morning toilette.The change in style between The Milkmaid and this painting of about five years later is considerable and coincidentally reflects their different subjects: an earthy woman described in tactile and sculptural terms, and an idealized beauty treated like a vision, an optical pattern of colors, flat shadows, and remarkable effects of light.
While Maes and other Dutch painters depicted dutiful maids and housewives, Ter Borch favored the theme of young women in fashionable attire and elegant interiors. His refined style, subtle interpretations (here the common theme of vanity is brought vividly to life), and success with discerning patrons must have impressed the young Vermeer. In April 1653 the two artists signed a document together, in Delft. At the time, Ter Borch had clients in the neighboring court city of The Hague, although he was evidently based in Amsterdam.
A young woman wearing an ermine-trimmed jacket and enormous pearl earrings eagerly looks out the window in expectation of a male visitor. A musical courtship is suggested by the viola da gamba on the floor in the foreground and by the flow of songbooks across the tabletop and onto the floor. The act of tuning a lute would have suggested the virtue of temperance to contemporary viewers, if not to Vermeer's modern Venus in search of an Adonis or Mars.The painting probably dates from slightly later than Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, and it shares with that composition its framing of the figure within rectangular motifs. But as in many of Vermeer's paintings dating from the mid- to late 1660s there is a shift to more muted tones, with shadows and soft contours evoking an air of intimacy. The impression of spatial recession and atmosphere is somewhat diminished by darkening with age of the objects in the foreground and by abrasion of the paint surface, mostly in the same area.
Like the celebrated Girl with a Pearl Earring (The Hague, Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis), this painting probably represents a live model but was not intended as a portrait. In the seventeenth century, pictures of this type were described as "tronies" (from the Dutch word tronie meaning "visage" or "expression") and appreciated for their unusual costumes, intriguing physiognomies, suggestion of personality, and demonstration of artistic skill. Rendering the behavior of light on shiny fabrics was considered a particular test of virtuosity, but here the silken wrap barely competes with the haunting face. The essential element in many of Vermeer's pictures—the viewer's curiosity about a young woman's thoughts, feelings, or character—is found here in deceptively simple form.
This painting differs greatly in style and purpose from other works by Vermeer, including the similarly composed Art of Painting, of about 1666–68 (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum). Both works demonstrate the artist's ability to visualize complex meaning, but this one reveals that his usual focus on naturalistic effects was a stylistic option, to be set aside when the subject called for another approach.The idealized figure is the Catholic Faith, who adores heaven in the form of a glass sphere and dominates the globe (its mundane nature seems suggested by realistic description). In the foreground, the cornerstone of the church (Christ) crushes a serpent (the Devil) near the apple of original sin, which required the Savior's sacrifice. On the table, a crucifix, a chalice, a long silk cloth (perhaps a priest's stole), a large book (presumably the Missale Romanum), and a crown of thorns refer to the sacrament of the Eucharist, which was especially denigrated by Protestant critics of the time. The setting resembles a small chapel set up in a private house, as Catholic "hidden churches" were in the Dutch Republic. This late work was surely commissioned, probably by a patron who was learned as well as devout.
The Delft portraitist Hendrick van Vliet started painting views of the local Delft churches in the early 1650s, following the lead of the older specialist Gerard Houckgeest. By 1600 the mostly Gothic churches of the northern Netherlands had been converted from Catholic to Calvinist use by stripping bare their "Popish" appointments and whitewashing the columns and walls. Worship centered on a pulpit in the nave, where the preacher would read scripture to a congregation gathered on chairs and stools. The original appeal of paintings like this one ranged from religious to aesthetic: they were often listed as "Perspectives" in seventeenth-century inventories.
Like Hendrick van Vliet (see previous image), the Delft figure painter Emanuel de Witte turned to the subject of local church interiors in response to pictures that Gerard Houckgeest (ca. 1600–1661) painted in 1650 and 1651. Unlike his older colleagues, De Witte treated architecture primarily in terms of space, light, shadow, and mood. In stressing these intangible qualities the artist evoked a spiritual environment and anticipated the optical approach of Vermeer.