Image: public domain, courtesy of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Love Letter

Johannes Vermeer, c. 1669–70

We look from a dim room into a bright one, where a maid has just handed a lady a letter. In Vermeer's time the sea was often compared to love, so the sea painting on the wall may hint at the letter.

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Did you know?

The lady holds a cittern, a stringed instrument like a lute, often linked with love in Vermeer's time.
Look for the slippers and the broom left on the floor, as if housework has been forgotten.
Above the sea painting hangs a landscape with a traveller on a sandy road, perhaps a hint of the absent letter writer.
In 1892 it was bought at an Amsterdam auction for the Rijksmuseum, with help from the Rembrandt Association.
In 1971, while on loan in Brussels, a young man stole it and cut it out of its frame with a potato peeler.
He wanted money for refugees in East Pakistan; the painting was back within weeks, but repairs took almost a year.

About the artist

Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) was born in Delft and spent his whole life in that Dutch town.

He is famous for quiet, light-filled interiors such as The Milkmaid and Girl with a Pearl Earring, and only about 35 of his paintings are known today.

He worked slowly and lovingly on each picture, and at home he and his wife Catharina had a big, lively family of eleven children.

Johannes Vermeer ›

Where it is today: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam · Museum page