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Portrait of a Young Woman

Johannes Vermeer, 1665

Johannes Vermeer's Portrait of a Young Woman, dated 1665, is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At 44.5 by 40 cm it is a small, close-up picture, and it rewards a slow look at short range.

Where to see it

Portrait of a Young Woman is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is also its listed location. Works are sometimes moved, rehung or lent to other institutions, so check the Metropolitan Museum of Art's official website for the painting's current display status before you plan your visit.

What to look for in person

A face set against darkness

Start with the overall arrangement. A single young woman turns toward you out of a plain, dark background, with no room, window or furniture to place her anywhere in particular. Without a setting, your attention goes to the head and shoulders and to the way light picks out the forehead, cheek and chin. Step back to see how the pale face stands out against the dark ground, then step in to see how softly the edges of the features melt into shadow rather than being drawn with hard outlines.

The direct, turning glance

Notice the pose. The sitter appears to look back over her shoulder, so her body and her gaze point in slightly different directions. This turn gives a small, still picture a sense of a passing moment, as if she has just noticed the viewer. Spend some time with the eyes and mouth. Their expression is quiet and hard to pin down, and different visitors read it in different ways. That openness is part of why the painting holds attention despite its modest size.

Light on fabric and skin

Look closely at the fabrics around the head and shoulders. Vermeer was known for describing how light falls on different surfaces, and here you can compare the smooth, glowing skin with the folds of cloth, where highlights and shadows build the form. Small touches of bright paint catch the eye in places, and at this scale they are easy to miss from across the gallery. Viewing from a few steps away and then from up close shows how those details either merge or come apart.

About the painting

Portrait of a Young Woman is a painting by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, dated 1665, and it belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It measures 44.5 cm high and 40 cm wide. That is a small format, closer to the size of a large book than a wall-filling canvas, so plan to look at it from close range. Vermeer is best known today for quiet interior scenes, often showing one or two figures absorbed in everyday activities in rooms lit from the side. This work takes a different approach. It removes the interior altogether and concentrates on a single head and shoulders against a dark background. Art historians often discuss pictures of this kind in relation to the Dutch tradition of the tronie. A tronie is a study of a face, expression or character type rather than a commissioned likeness of a named person, and such pictures were made and sold in the Dutch Republic during the seventeenth century. Seen this way, the painting is less about recording who the sitter was and more about how a face, a turning pose and falling light can be rendered in paint. When you visit, give yourself a few minutes in front of it. Look first at the whole image from a short distance, then move closer to study the handling of skin, cloth and shadow. Because the picture is small and contains few elements, the experience depends on attention to subtle changes in tone. Visitors who also know Vermeer's interior scenes may find it useful to compare how he treats light in a closed room with how he treats it here, on a figure set against darkness.

Key facts

More by Johannes Vermeer

• The Concert
• The Girl with the Wine Glass
• The Lacemaker — Louvre Museum
• Girl Interrupted at her Music — The Frick Collection
• Woman with a Pearl Necklace — Gemäldegalerie Berlin
• Woman in Blue Reading a Letter — Rijksmuseum
• The Milkmaid — Rijksmuseum
• Girl with a Pearl Earring — Mauritshuis
• A Young Woman seated at a Virginal — National Gallery
• The Music Lesson
• A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal — National Gallery
• Diana and her Nymphs — Mauritshuis

Sources

• Wikidata Q958088
• www.metmuseum.org
• engage.metmuseum.org