- Artist
- Johannes Vermeer
- Year
- c. 1669 – c. 1670
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 46.6 × 40 cm
A maidservant hands her mistress a letter in this intimate Vermeer interior. The composition uses a painting-within-a-painting device — a seascape on the back wall — to mirror the emotional theme of correspondence and longing. The soft, diffused light and meticulously rendered textures of silk, wood, and ceramic are hallmarks of Vermeer’s mature style.