Johannes Vermeer Paints Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid

In the corner of a room illuminated by a tall window in the left wall a woman in a pale green dress with white cap and sleeves and pearl earrings sits at a table covered with an oriental carpet writing a letter. Behind her and to the left stands a maidservant in a more subdued tan and gray outfit with a blue apron. A calm and columnar figure, she crosses her arms and waits while gazing sidelong out the window. Her mistress, in contrast, sets earnestly to her task. The elegant interior features a dark green curtain on the left, black and white marble floor with a skirt of tiles, and a large painting of the Finding of Moses (attributed by some to Peter Lely, who was trained in Haarlem in an ebony frame on the back wall.

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