Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer

Love Letter by Johannes Vermeer at Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

The lady dressed in fur and fine materials, stops playing lute and looks up to the maid with a letter in her hand that just arrived and still unopened. We as viewer are looking into a bright room with these two figures and two paintings on wall. The paintings in the paintings usually provide a clue, a cue, a motto and a story to tell. The landscape above is a man walking in the country. The one below is a sail boat on sea. Main object in both paintings are lined up with the lady’s gaze. Both painting suggests journey and distance which are linked to the lady’s concern; the person who wrote the letter.

Scholars elaborate on every single subject on the painting. From the clogs and a broom that lay astray which might indicate that the lady is conducting an affair rather than a legitimated love, to the chosen instrument, lute, and sheet music on the front right which suggest harmony and companionship. The mystery of Vermeer remains unascertained.

情書/維美爾/阿姆斯特丹的國家博物館

女人穿在皮草和漂亮精緻的衣服, 停止裡手上的lute ( 網上有翻譯做魯特琴，或翻成琵琶，總之是弦樂器的一種。) 抬頭看著傭人，手裡剛拿到信。剛剛拿到，還沒打開，可是看兩個女人的眼神，她們已經知道是誰寄來的。我們作為看畫的人，由暗處看進一個明亮的房間裡，有這兩個女人和二張清楚的畫。
畫中畫通常提供一個線索、一個暗示、一個老生常談，座右銘或一個畫家要告訴你的故事。上面的那幅風景是描繪一個人走在郊外。下面的是一條帆船在海上。在兩張繪畫的主角，人和船與坐著的女人抬起的目光成一直線。暗示了女人關心的對象，那個寄信的人現在不在身邊。

學者會極其詳盡地闡述在每一個繪畫中的物件。像地上的木屐，斜擺的掃帚可能表示這份愛情不是太正當的。魯特琴這個樂器和散佈在前面的譜也許也有當時的含意。維美爾畫中的故事會永遠充滿未解的神秘。