10 things about Vermeer’s Woman Reading a Letter

Vermeer's work only became really popular in the 19th century. This was partly due to his choice for the world of the recognizable bourgeoisie and his choice for contemplative scenes and tranquil moments.

The woman is wearing a jacket worn only at home, so the artist is clearly giving us an intimate glimpse of a woman in a domestic setting. The letter must be personal, as business letters were usually read in the study.

Vermeer used the semiprecious stone lapis lazuli to achieve this colour. Although Vermeer was far from wealthy, he often used this expensive raw material in his paintings.

With Vermeer it almost always comes from a window to the left of the frame. A soft blue shadow on the wall comes from an invisible window that, as in other paintings by Vermeer, consists of two horizontal sections.

The map in the background was made by Balthasar van Berckenrode and was published by the famous mapmaker Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1620). It shows the Dutch provinces of Holland and West Friesland.

Compared to a larger than life character such as Rembrandt, Vermeer cuts a far more modest figure. He for example only signed his paintings ‘IVMeer’ or ‘IVM’. Woman Reading a Letter bears no signature at all.

Van der Hoop was an immensely wealthy Amsterdam merchant who amassed a major art collection during his life. Van der Hoop decided to leave his collection to the City of Amsterdam.

Han van Meegeren (1889-1947) is perhaps the most famous forger in art history. His own pièce de résistance The Supper at Emmaus was sold as a genuine Vermeer and was even exhibited at Rotterdam’s Boijmans van Beuningen museum.

Danish artist Vilhem Hammershoi (1864-1916) is one such artist, who was influenced by Vermeer’s use of motifs, colour and composition. His own work Ida Reading a Letter from 1899 is practically a mirrored version.

The 2010-11 restoration showed that the woman’s jacket had been wider to start with and there may even have been a fur collar underneath. But the greatest revelation was the re-emergence of the painting’s original palette of colours.