''The Lacemaker'' is a painting by the Dutch artist
Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer ( , , #Pronunciation of name, see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period Painting, painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle class, middle-class life. ...
(1632–1675), completed around 1669–1670 and held in the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, Paris. The work shows a young woman wearing a yellow bodice, holding up a pair of bobbins in her left hand as she carefully places a pin in the pillow on which she is making her bobbin lace. At 24.5 cm x 21 cm (9.6 in x 8.3 in), the work is the smallest of Vermeer's paintings,Bonafoux, 66 but in many ways one of his most abstract and unusual.Huerta (2005), 38 The
canvas
Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...
used was cut from the same bolt as that used for '' A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals'', and both paintings seem to have had identical dimensions originally.
The girl is set against a blank wall, probably because the artist sought to eliminate any external distractions from the central image. As with his '' The Astronomer'' (1668) and ''
The Geographer
''The Geographer'' (Dutch: ) is a painting created by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer in 1668–1669, and is now in the collection of the Städel museum in Frankfurt, Germany. It is closely related to Vermeer's ''The Astronomer (painting), The Astr ...
'' (1669), it is likely that the artist undertook careful study before he executed the work; the art of lacemaking is portrayed closely and accurately.Wheelock, 114 Vermeer probably used a ''
camera obscura
A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a aperture, small hole or lens at one side through which an image is 3D projection, projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole.
''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions su ...
'' while composing the work: many optical effects typical of photography can be seen, in particular the blurring of the foreground. By rendering areas of the canvas as out-of-focus, Vermeer is able to suggest
depth of field
The depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image captured with a camera.
Factors affecting depth of field
For cameras that can only focus on one object dist ...
in a manner unusual of Dutch
Baroque painting
Baroque painting is the painting associated with the Baroque cultural movement. The movement is often identified with Absolutism, the Counter Reformation and Catholic Revival, The blurring of these threads contrasts sharply with the precision of the lace she is shown working on.
Vermeer's painting is often compared to a 1662 canvas by the Dutch portrait and genre painter
Caspar Netscher
Caspar (or Gaspar) Netscher (1639 – January 15, 1684) was a Dutch portrait and genre painter. He was a master in depicting oriental rugs, silk and brocade and introduced an international style to the Northern Netherlands.
Life
According to ...
. However, Vermeer's work is very different in tone. In the earlier work, both the girl's shoes and the mussel shells near her feet have sexual connotations. In addition, the discarded shoes in Netscher's painting are unlikely to be the girl's own, hinting again at a sexual overtone.
According to the art historian
Lawrence Gowing
Sir Lawrence Burnett Gowing (21 April 1918 – 5 February 1991) was an English artist, writer, curator and teacher. Initially recognised as a portrait and landscape painter, he quickly rose to prominence as an art educator, writer, and eventuall ...
,
:"The achievement of Vermeer's maturity is complete. It is not open to extension: no universal style is discovered. We have never the sense of abundance that the characteristic jewels of his century gives us, the sense that the precious vein lies open, ready to be worked. There is only one 'Lacemaker': we cannot imagine another. It is a complete and single definition."Gowing, 55
Notes
Sources
*
Bonafoux, Pascal
Pascal Bonafoux (born 1949) is a French writer, novelist, art critic and art historian, a specialist in self-portraiture. He collaborates with various newspapers and magazines, he is the author of numerous essays dedicated to art and was a reside ...
. ''Vermeer''. New York: Konecky & Konecky, 1992.
*Gowing, Lawrence. ''Vermeer''. University of California Press, 1950.
*Huerta, Robert D. ''Giants of Delft''. Bucknell University Press, 2003.
*Huerta, Robert D. ''Vermeer and Plato: Painting the Ideal''. Bucknell University Press, 2005.
*Wheelock, Arthur K. ''Vermeer: The Complete Works''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997.