Masterpiece Art Essay

A piece of art is not only a painting that captures the artists idea, it represents his
personality, opinions and beliefs. It gives the viewers an idea of what was happening in the
moment, and helps them reflect the mentality that was spread out in the particular period of
time. The Milkmaid, which hangs in The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, was painted by
Johannes Vermeer between 1658 and 1661. It is an oil on canvas, genre painting that has a
very realistic tone to it. The artists captures the determination with which the milkmaid is
pouring milk in the stoneware. It seems that this painting depicts a scene of everyday life but
Vermeer with the help of his painting, shows not only an everyday scene but leaves it upon
the viewer to assume what they want to see. It represents pride in indigenous traditions, it
represents sexual availability, it shows hard work and calmness. His painting demonstrates
realism, composition and color.

In 1653 Vermeer married a Catholic girl named Catharina who insisted him to convert into a
Catholic as well. The artists following Calvinism were not allowed to depict sexual content in
their paintings and thus, Vermeer, along with other artists of the era started using symbols
that would subtly illustrate the same idea. In this particular case, the women pouring milk in a
silverware, would portray the idea of attraction or to lure someone as the Dutch word for
pouring milk is ‘melken’ which is defined as ‘ to sexually attract’. Further, the bottom wall
behind the milkmaid has cupids or devils wandering around, which would be another symbol
for love or lust. The artist also tried to use the warmer next to the wall which would symbolize
the warmth or burning passion of a women for someone she loves, however, the warmer
could also portray her negligence to it, depicting that she has no time to relax and sit down.
The woman is completely unaware of her surroundings and viewers and is focused on what
she is doing portraying that she is independent and hardworking.. Just looking at a painting
of a woman pouring milk, leads people to imagine an entire life for her, and thus, the
conclusion is that this painting is open ended and is based on the viewers imagination.

This is a pyramidal artwork as the lines and light(from the window) are touching the maid’s
face, and with the help of her left arm’s position, it is reflecting the light to the viewer’s focal
point making it the milk that she is pouring. Vermeer used thin strokes to depict the smallest
details possible making it look like a three-dimensional illusion such as the clothing, the
pattern on the bread and basket, and the woman’s face. Vermeer achieved this magical
effect by painting tiny dots of color also called the ‘pointillism’ to indicate spots where the
light is reflected. By using this technique Johannes emphasizes more on the matter present
in the painting such as the bread, milk and basket rather than the characters which is the
milkmaid. Vermeer made the window one of the most important central themes, because it’s
the source of all the light that is depicted in the painting. It portrays the painting with
luminosity and light. He focused on the tiniest details like a broken glass piece on a rustic
window. Along with that he chose a relatively low vantage point in order to emphasize the
nature of the painting as a whole and not just one particular point.

This painting is categorized as a ‘split- complementary’ color scheme with orange, blue and
yellow colors. Vermeer made navy blue his dominant color, using saturated touches making
it stand out whilst cider orange and tangerine yellow are more dull. He gave the skin a very
natural feel by contrasting the skin with fabric as the face is very patchy and layered making
it look realistic. Vermeer gave the wall extra attention as he gave it a rough texture, along
with adding different kind of geometric lines. Additionally, he also gave it subtle detailing by
adding nails, holes and small cracks making it pop out and look realistic.

He varied the texture when switching from one object to another to match the nature of the
object. We can see this variation between the two different fabric texture and colors. The
yellow fabric is more rough, but the blue fabric is silky and smooth; which gives the painting
a more realistic feel. Highlights and tones were used all over the painting especially the face
of the women. The shadow that falls across her face shows that she is very concentrated on
her task, or is lost in her thoughts.

Outside of the pyramidal area of the artwork where most of the actives, light and color is,
there are many minor points of interest scattered around. The more you look at this painting,
the more details you see, drawing the viewers’ attention for a long time and adding
sophistication to the artwork. One of the minor details that really catch the viewers’ attention
is the metallic gold bucket hanging on the wall, and even though it has no major significance
it stands out as it is one of the brightest colors. Another small detail, that does not have a
major impact is her hands which are red in color that depicts that she is hardworking, and
has irritated skin, hence, all the work she is doing is portrayed. The house looks really rustic
to the modern eye due to the marks and molds on the wall which demonstrates the era this
is from.

This painting is so realistic that you can almost feel the dampness in the room, and feel the
presence of the woman’s silky skirt. She look like a real person just working on her domestic
work and we feel like we are intruders spying on her. Vermeer has a really unique style and
pointillism really helped him bring out some of his best work.

Work cited
“The Milkmaid (C.1658).” The Milkmaid, Jan Vermeer: Analysis, Interpretation. Accessed
October 22, 2020. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/milkmaid.htm.
Vermeer, Jans. The Milkmaid, 658-1661. Oil on canvas. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.