The Guitar Player

The Guitar Player is a painting by Jan Vermeer, on display in Kenwood House, London. Together with the Lacemaker (Louvre, Paris), this painting constitutes one of the best achievements by Vermeer, and certainly a towering success in his late maturity. By now, the artist had attained the mastery of light and colors, together with complete freedom of expressing himself technically by means of looser brushstrokes that are no longer bound to specifics of texture or materials. The model is not drawn inward but looks to the outside world in full communication and radiance of her pleasure simply to make music.

Here's an amusing article about Vermeer’s Desperate Housewives :)