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In this dramatic work the viewer peers through a doorway to a well-appointed room, where the mistress turns from her cittern and looks questioningly at the maid after being handed a letter. Unlike the thematically related Mistress and Maid, where Vermeer does not reveal the consequences of the unexpected epistle, the maid's reassuring smile and the calm seas of the painting behind her signify a positive outcome.
Excerpt taken from
Vermeer: The Complete Works by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr |
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