Johannes Vermeer - The Kitchen Maid [c.1658]

With quiet concentration a woman pours milk into a bowl. With her left hand she supports the can she is pouring from. Around her are various objects: a loaf of bread, a stoneware jug, a basket and a brass bucket. The woman is standing near the window so she can see what she is doing. The light falls on her hands; her silhouette is dark against the white wall. There is a fascinating play of light and shadow in this painting. This is one of Johannes Vermeer's genre pieces in which he establishes an intensely intimate atmosphere. Although the artist observes his model from nearby, she continues with her work, totally unperturbed.

 

Clearly, this woman is a servant and no grand lady. Her dress is simple. The blue skirt is tucked up to save it from getting dirty. She wears green over-sleeves which partly protect her yellow bodice. On her head the maid wears a starched cap. She looks strong and sturdy. Vermeer achieves this effect by painting her from a low viewpoint. This lends a certain weight and dignity to this simple and everyday subject - a woman at her work.

 

Vermeer's 'Kitchen Maid' was highly appreciated at an early date. In an auction catalogue of 1696 the painting is described as follows: 'A Maid pouring out milk, exceptionally good.’ The Milkmaid, as the painting is commonly called, was sold for 175 guilders at that auction - a large sum for those days. At the beginning of the twentieth century the painting arrived in the Rijksmuseum. The Rembrandt Society bought the work together with 38 other paintings, thereby saving it for the Dutch public. There was a heated discussion both about the quality of the 39 paintings as well as the price - 750,000 guilders. Many satirical cartoons were published in this connection. Today the painting is unquestionably one of the Rijksmuseum’s finest attractions.

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