Weekly musings on the arts and current events.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, 1670



In this Vermeer, a woman is intently writing while her servant apprehensively looks out the window, waiting to deliver her mistress' letter. There's a crumpled paper on the floor which people used to think was a discarded first draft until someone cleaned the canvas and found a dab of red next to it--sealing wax. (Click on the picture for a better look.) The letter angered her, but now she's collected herself and is penning her response. On the wall is a painting depicting Pharaoh's daughter, with her maidservants, finding Moses among the bulrushes. One of them, by tradition Moses' sister, stands behind the princess exactly as the servant stands behind the writer.

Symbolically, there are several possibilities. Perhaps a negotiant is testing the woman's mettle, which will prove regal. Perhaps the mistress is pregnant and her suitor has rejected her, but she's not about to cast the babe upon the waters. Perhaps it is the servant who is in distress and the woman has resolved to defend her. In any case, there's a pact between servant and mistress, and much is at stake.

For me, this painting is about the reach and strength of women. Of the many ladies Vermeer painted in domestic scenes, quite a few had pens in their hands. Writing is an expression of will, enabling women to spread their influence past the confines of their homes. I have no doubt that Vermeer wants us to heed what they have to say.
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3 comments:

BioniKat said...

I quite agree that writing is an expression of will and its use to influence is still very much in evidence today. It is also a strong reason why womens right to education and right to vote were suppressed by physically stronger men for so many years.

TallTchr said...

...and by the Taliban today.

Paula Slade said...

Very interesting observations regarding this painting as well as Vermeer's proclivity for the placement of pens in the hands of women. As Shakespeare's Rosencrantz said in Hamlet, "... many wearing rapiers are afraid of
goose-quills and dare scarce come thither." Perhaps Veermeer had that in mind.
I think women would totally agree with you and Vermeer that historically speaking, having our voices heard, has always been a battle.