Image: public domain, courtesy of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Woman Reading a Letter

Johannes Vermeer, c. 1663

A young woman in a blue jacket stands quietly at a table, completely absorbed in a letter, in the soft daylight from a window. Behind her hangs a large map of Holland, and no one knows who wrote the letter or what it says.

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Did you know?

The deep blue is ultramarine, a very costly paint made from the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli.
The map shows Holland and West Friesland and was first published in 1620, and Vermeer painted the same map in another picture, Officer and Laughing Girl.
The light falls from a window on the left that we cannot see, as in many of Vermeer's rooms.
A restoration in 2010–2011 removed old yellowed varnish and brought back many shades of blue.
X-ray and infrared images show that her jacket was first painted wider, perhaps with a fur trim.
The Amsterdam merchant Adriaan van der Hoop left the painting to his city, and it has been shown at the Rijksmuseum since 1885.

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