The Love Letter, 1669-1670 by Johannes Vermeer Tissue Paper

Johannes Vermeer - The Love Letter, 1669-1670. Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age along with Rembrandt. The tied-up curtain in the foreground creates the impression that the viewer is looking at an intensely private, personal scene. There is also an element of trompe-l'œil as Dutch paintings were often hung with little curtains to conserve them, and the device of painted curtains is seen in other Dutch works of the period. The fact that it is a love letter that the woman has received is made clear by the fact that she is carrying a cittern, a form of lute used in the period as a symbol of love - often carnal love;