The Milkmaid By Johannes Vermeer

The Milkmaid, by Johannes Vermeer, depicts this sense of realism through its simplicity and defined palette. You can see that Vermeer mainly focuses on using tones of red, blue and yellow. Allowing them to play off each other in terms of light and shadow, giving the viewers a unknown sense of the milkmaid. Purity can also be captured through the light washes and textures of the white walls in the back, allowing Vermeer’s palette to dance off of it. This mystery that lies over the milkmaid’s face and body, draws in the crowd, wanting to know whats she’s thinking. You see milkmaids, or in this case a kitchen maid, are known in the Dutch art to be women of pleasure. Being predisposed to love and at the impromptu disposal of many suitors. According to an article in The Met, this sense of mystery paired with the light smirk on her face, her pushed up sleeves showing her pale skin and adequate form, suggests sexuality. Another detail to point out are the Delft tiles in the background of the painting. Delft tiles, or just Delft pottery, are glazed white and blue designed pottery, usually illustrating all sorts of designs and objects. Displayed on one of the specific Delft tile is Cupid, indicating …show more content…
After the separation of Northern and Southern Netherlands, they saw a great increase of wealth and advances in many areas. This rising income showed a decrease in working class/merchants and therefore a nonexistent theme for Vermeer to base his paintings off of. Rendering The Milkmaid to be one of the last working class paintings by Johannes Vermeer, created somewhere between 1632-1675. This importance of the Origin of this painting and the time in which it took place, is that Delft, which is located in the Netherlands, is where Johannes Vermeer was born. The artist incorporating specifics elements of his culture and also addressing their main social changes, gives a very powerful