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the two women as they are sitting at a desk, doing an everyday activity. Vermeer was known for his domestic scenes containing women. The light in the painting comes from the left, and falls on the mistress' face. The mistress has a pensive gaze, with her lips parted slightly and her fingertips lifted to her chin in a questioning manner. The lighted parts of the yellow overcoat are formed with sweeping brushstrokes of
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was painted during 1666–1667. The painting shows an elegant mistress and her maid as they look over a letter that the mistress just received. There is a strong use of yellow in the woman's elegant fur-lined overcoat, and blue in the silk tablecloth and the maid's apron. The focus of the painting is
91:. Vermeer died at a relatively young age, 43, in 1675. He suffered most likely from a stroke or stress-induced heart attack. The slow rate at which he produced paintings restricted Vermeer from becoming wealthy during his lifetime, and he died in debt.
124:(c. 1663–4), depict a woman by herself with a letter, but in this painting the added maid is a new element. The gestures and expressions of the two women suggest anxiety over the letter and its potential contents. The painting is well preserved.
79:. He worked and lived in Delft all his life, although it is possible that he may have done an apprenticeship in another town such as Amsterdam or Utrecht for six years. A major stepping point in Vermeer's career was in 1653 when he joined the
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c. 1667. It portrays two women, a mistress and her maid, as they look over the mistress' letter. The painting displays
Vermeer's preference for yellow and blue, female models, and domestic scenes. It is now in the
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as a master and professional painter. Vermeer painted at a somewhat leisurely pace, producing two to three paintings a year; there are 35 known to exist today. Vermeer is thought to have made use of a
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117:. Pearls were an important status symbol of the period and that was reflected in the mistress' fancy attire and her abundance of pearls.
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and the shadows are created with definition. Vermeer uses a dark background, as he does in other paintings such as
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Letters are a prevalent theme in
Vermeer's paintings from the 1660s. Earlier works, such as
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Janson, Jonathon. "Mistress and Maid." Essential
Vermeer. N.p., 2011. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.
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Pioch, Nicolas. "Jan
Vermeer." WebMuseum, Paris. N.p., 14 Oct. 2002. Web. 8 Mar. 2012
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About
Vermeer." Tracy Chevalier. N.p., Dec. 2011. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.
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The Ghost of
Vermeer of Delft Which Can Be Used as a Table
213:"Girl With a Pearl Earring - The Story - Tracy Chevalier"
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236:. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art. p. 182.
191:. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art. p. 162.
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51:) is an oil-on-canvas painting produced by
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458:Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window
302:Iacono, Margaret; Ivory, James (2018).
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387:Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
332:at the website of the Frick Collection
843:Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft
666:A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals
134:List of paintings by Johannes Vermeer
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928:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer
634:Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid
21:For the 1910 Thanhouser film, see
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923:Paintings in the Frick Collection
16:1666 painting by Johannes Vermeer
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122:Woman in Blue Reading a Letter
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466:Girl Interrupted at Her Music
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854:All the Vermeers in New York
474:The Girl with the Wine Glass
278:Vermeer and the Delft School
232:Wheelock, Arthur K. (1995).
187:Wheelock, Arthur K. (1995).
943:1660s in the Dutch Republic
658:Lady Standing at a Virginal
538:Woman with a Pearl Necklace
304:Vermeer's Mistress and Maid
275:Liedtke, Walter A. (2001).
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283:Metropolitan Museum of Art
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833:Dutch Golden Age painting
779:Girl with a Pearl Earring
771:Girl with a Pearl Earring
763:Girl with a Pearl Earring
650:Lady Seated at a Virginal
554:Girl with a Pearl Earring
434:Officer and Laughing Girl
170:. Ibiblio.org. 2002-10-14
168:"WebMuseum: Vermeer, Jan"
147:Portrait of a Young Woman
140:Girl with a Pearl Earring
115:Girl with a Pearl Earring
110:Portrait of a Young Woman
410:Diana and Her Companions
23:Mistress and Maid (film)
889:(2013 documentary film)
823:Delft School (painting)
818:Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
562:A Lady Writing a Letter
506:Woman Holding a Balance
736:Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
711:Théophile Thoré-Bürger
578:Study of a Young Woman
522:Woman Reading a Letter
498:Woman with a Water Jug
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642:The Allegory of Faith
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838:Hockney–Falco thesis
726:John Michael Montias
89:circles of confusion
71:was born in 1632 in
881:(2008 history book)
685:Formerly attributed
594:The Art of Painting
570:Girl with a Red Hat
81:Guild of Saint Luke
938:Portraits of women
862:Writing to Vermeer
807:Pieter van Ruijven
60:in New York City.
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693:Girl with a Flute
674:The Guitar Player
586:Mistress and Maid
514:Woman with a Lute
442:The Little Street
329:Mistress and Maid
313:978-1-911282-37-2
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782:(2008 play)
774:(2003 film)
704:Scholarship
530:The Concert
395: 1655
95:Description
917:Categories
746:Portrayals
242:0894682199
219:2013-06-29
197:0894682199
174:2013-06-29
154:References
809:(patrons)
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374:Paintings
306:. GILES.
904:Category
128:See also
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790:Related
77:Holland
828:Tronie
421:(1656)
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64:Artist
73:Delft
805:and
308:ISBN
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