Mistress and Maid

This oil on canvas portrays two women, a mistress and her maid, as they look over the Mistress' love letter. Vermeer was known for his domestic scenes containing women. The light in the painting comes from the left, and falls on the mistress' face, as is apparent from the shadow of the table that falls on her legs. At first glance, this painting may seem very straightforward, but it has deeper psychological implications. If one looks at the image longer, one sees the mistress as she looks at the sealed love letter, hinting that she has a relationship with someone who is perhaps a great distance away. There is also a hinted relationship between the mistress and the maid, with their furtive glances, and their body language as they lean towards each other. The lack of final modeling in the mistress’ head and figure and the relatively plain background indicate that this late work by Vermeer was left unfinished. Nevertheless, the artist seldom if ever surpassed the subtly varied effects of light seen here, as it gleams from the pearl jewelry, sparkles from the glass and silver objects on the table, and falls softly over the figures in their shadowy setting.

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