Johannes VermeerDutch, 1632–1675Woman in Blue Reading a Letter
Brieflezende vrouw
May one see it?
Unknown: the museum keeps its counsel
Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam, Netherlands
The owner is known. Whether it is on view today, the museum does not say, and we were not trained to guess.
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
Woman Reading a Letter (Dutch: Brieflezende vrouw) is a painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer, produced around 1663. It has been part of the collection of the City of Amsterdam since the Van der Hoop bequest in 1854, and in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam since it opened in 1885, the first Vermeer it acquired.
Particulars
- Accession number
- SK-C-251
What it shows
Sources
- Rijksmuseum: the museum's own open data · fetched 3 days ago
- Image: Wikimedia Commons — Public domain
Meanwhile, in the life of Johannes Vermeer
The whole life1652–1661
The influence of Pieter de Hooch in Delft
The genre painter Pieter de Hooch, who lived in Delft from 1652 to 1661, had an enormous influence on Vermeer, reflected in, among other works, Diana and Her Companions. De Hooch's individual style was developed further in Vermeer's paintings.
1653–1675
Patrons: van Ruijven and van Buyten
Pieter van Ruijven and his wife Maria de Knuijt were Vermeer's patrons for the better part of his career: van Ruijven bought much of his output, which kept Vermeer afloat financially but reduced the chances of his fame spreading beyond Delft. The baker Hendrick van Buyten held a couple of his paintings as collateral.
1653–1675 · Workplace
Delft
1662
Elected head of the Guild of Saint Luke
In 1662 Vermeer was elected head of the guild and was re-elected in 1663, 1670 and 1671, evidence that his peers considered him an established craftsman.
1663
A visit from Balthasar de Monconys
In 1663 the diplomat Balthasar de Monconys came to see Vermeer's work, but Vermeer had no paintings to show him. Monconys and the two French clergymen with him were sent to the baker Hendrick van Buyten, who held a couple of the artist's paintings as collateral.
