Johannes Vermeer : “The Milkmaid” (c. 1660)

It has been said of Vermeer that he created a world more prefect than any he had witnessed. His almost photorealistic attention to detail, combined with his lack of formal training, has led scholars to suppose that he may have made use of a mechanical aid, such as a camera obscura, camera lucida, or some variation thereof. Working on top of a gray or monochrome underpainting, he made use of extravagantly expensive pigments such as natural ultramarine and lapis lazuli, rendering each object in a combination of its native color and the reflected light of its surroundings. Though he left no school in his wake and faded into obscurity following his death in 1675, his works were rediscovered during the 1860s and he has since been acknowledged as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age.

The Milkmaid reflects the uncertainty of Dutch households toward their female domestic servants. Will their efforts lay the foundations of domestic harmony, or will their dreams and dalliances sow familial discord?

On one hand, the subject is engaged in labor necessary to maintain a well-ordered home. Specifically (suggests art historian Harry Rand), she is in the process of making bread pudding, which requires a careful measure of milk to make a palatable meal of otherwise stale and useless bread. On the other, the iconography of the painting alludes to her as an object of male desire. Art historians have pointed out the tile at the foot of the wall behind her, depicting cupid; the wide-mouthed jug, reminiscent of female anatomy; and the foot warmer, which served to heat the body below the waist.

Last but not least is her enigmatic expression, displaying “a little bit of a Mona Lisa effect,” in the words of European art curator Walter Liedtke. Do her downcast eyes and pursed lips express wistfulness, or concentration? Is her mind on her work, or is she in love?