Room 5 · Young Woman with a Water Pitcher

The story of this room

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After the darkness of the last room, this one feels bright. It is also small. The painting is only about sixteen inches wide, so Leo waves you a step closer. We both hold our breath. One sound, and the woman might turn around.

Start on the left. She holds a window with one hand. Each small pane, joined with lead, holds a piece of blue sky. Where the sun reaches her fingertips, they glow a warm pink. Now look at the white cloth over her head. It is white, but not simply white. In the shadows it turns bluish, and where the light hits it, it is a soft warm gray. Every time I look, I am surprised by how many colors are hiding inside one white. Leo lifts his silverpoint, then lowers it again with a sigh.

Her other hand holds a gold-colored pitcher on the table. It stands in a wide basin. Get close to the shiny rim of the basin. The red pattern of the carpet below is reflected in it, blurred, like in a mirror. To the right sits a box with a blue ribbon trailing over it. On the back wall, a large map hangs from a blue rod.

Johannes Vermeer painted this around 1662. He was born in the Dutch city of Delft and worked there all his life. Only about thirty-five of his paintings survive. Most show quiet rooms beside a window, like this one. He is known for his love of ultramarine, a very expensive blue pigment.

In the Dutch Republic of his day, merchants and ordinary citizens bought paintings to hang at home. So instead of saints and kings, daily life at home became the subject. Vermeer died in 1675, at forty-three, leaving his family in debt.

Next, we leave this calm window behind and step into a prison cell. A philosopher is about to take a cup of poison, and he is still talking.

5 places to look closer

Start with the window on the left. Pale blue sky shows through the panes, held together by lead strips. The woman's fingertips just touch the edge of the frame. Is she opening it or closing it? The painting holds that tiny moment still.

Zoom in on the white cloth covering her head. It is white, but in the shadows it turns blue. Vermeer did not paint white cloth with plain white.

Look at the pitcher and basin on the table. Small beads of light sparkle near the base of the pitcher. The curved side of the basin faintly reflects the red and blue of the rug below. A few dots of paint are all it takes to make the metal shine.

At the far right, a blue ribbon hangs over a golden box. The front of the box is decorated with a row of little columns. Behind it lies a deep blue cloth. Whose things are these? The painting lets you wonder.

Get close to the patterned rug covering the table. Blue flowers spread across a deep red ground. In Dutch homes of this period, rugs like this were often laid over tables rather than on the floor. Its heavy colors make the clear white light above look even brighter.