“The Love Letter” is a painting by Jan Vermeer, made in 1669 during the Dutch Golden Age/Baroque period. It is an interior scene, typical of both Vermeer and Dutch art during and after the Counter-Reformation. Due to both the success of the Dutch Republic and the rebellion against the Catholic Church, Dutch art was generally more materialistic, everyday-life centered, and focused on wealth, as the Dutch enjoyed massive success as bankers and as seafarers. Many of these elements are incorporated into this painting, giving the viewer an intimate look into this woman’s life, including symbols to hint at the situation, and using details to enhance the meaning. In the painting, the viewer peeks past a wall to find a woman with a cittern being handed
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17th century and Samuel van Hoogstraten’s View of an Interior, 1658, both of which were created before Vermeer’s. Hoogstraten’s painting also “employs the darkened foreground with threshold and tiled floor and even shares common motifs…such as the broom and slippers” . Most importantly, Vermeer may have based his Love Letter off of the doorkikje of Hoogstraten’s work, which is a device that uses a view to an adjoining space, or different room, as Vermeer did4. De Hooch’s work bears an even more striking resemblance to Vermeer’s painting, and although it is debated whose painting was made first, the similarities are uncanny. Typical of the time period and of Dutch art, both paintings, even Hoogstraten’s, contain a diagonal, checkered floor which “[create] the impression of depth and three-dimensionality]” . The changing sizes and angles of the tiles create a sense of space, and almost seem contemporary, as diagonal checkered floors were popular in the 1950’s (which is modern, especially compared to the painting’s date of creation, in the 17th century). Hooch’s painting also employs a dark foreground, draped curtain, domestic items (a broom for example), a light source from the window, a cittern, and symbols of love). Although these two paintings seem almost identical in their forms and value, their elements were quite common in the era. Private scenes, daily life, love, and reminders of God and folly were among the most popular motifs. The light source from a window, present in many of Vermeer and de Hooch’s paintings, is a reminder of God’s watch on the lives of humans. Domestic items were reminders of women’s duties, and the symbols of love may have been a precursor to the Rococo movement, which was more popular in France, but did reach to an extent in the
17th century and Samuel van Hoogstraten’s View of an Interior, 1658, both of which were created before Vermeer’s. Hoogstraten’s painting also “employs the darkened foreground with threshold and tiled floor and even shares common motifs…such as the broom and slippers” . Most importantly, Vermeer may have based his Love Letter off of the doorkikje of Hoogstraten’s work, which is a device that uses a view to an adjoining space, or different room, as Vermeer did4. De Hooch’s work bears an even more striking resemblance to Vermeer’s painting, and although it is debated whose painting was made first, the similarities are uncanny. Typical of the time period and of Dutch art, both paintings, even Hoogstraten’s, contain a diagonal, checkered floor which “[create] the impression of depth and three-dimensionality]” . The changing sizes and angles of the tiles create a sense of space, and almost seem contemporary, as diagonal checkered floors were popular in the 1950’s (which is modern, especially compared to the painting’s date of creation, in the 17th century). Hooch’s painting also employs a dark foreground, draped curtain, domestic items (a broom for example), a light source from the window, a cittern, and symbols of love). Although these two paintings seem almost identical in their forms and value, their elements were quite common in the era. Private scenes, daily life, love, and reminders of God and folly were among the most popular motifs. The light source from a window, present in many of Vermeer and de Hooch’s paintings, is a reminder of God’s watch on the lives of humans. Domestic items were reminders of women’s duties, and the symbols of love may have been a precursor to the Rococo movement, which was more popular in France, but did reach to an extent in the