"Love Letter" by Jan Vermeer: Why the lute is central to the painting

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

At the first glance at the famous painting by Jan Vermeer "Love Letter", the name seems far-fetched, because the letter itself is barely noticeable. But the lute in the hands of a woman plays a much more significant symbolic role. What does the letter contain? And what is the meaning of the lute in the picture?

Genre painting

Pictures that allow the observer to look at the everyday life of the people depicted were especially popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. They are called genre paintings, and Dutch genre art has an undeniable place at this stage in art history. Symbolism was a particularly popular topic. Paintings depicting love letters can be attributed to a separate category of genre painting. Artists such as Jan Vermeer, Gabriel Metsu and Samuel van Hoogstrate have contributed to the art world with their canvases.

A glimpse of mystery

The scene depicted resembles a keyhole. Darkness combined with light at a distance creates an optical illusion of spatial relief. The diagonals on the checkered floor give the impression of depth and three-dimensionality. An open door, a curtain overhead, an arbitrary composition of not very attractive everyday objects in the foreground creates the impression of complete surprise, as if the viewers of this picture are intruders who have taken the heroes by surprise. There is something conspiratorial about both women. And the reason is in the letter.

Heroines of the picture

In all likelihood, the situation in this woman's house is deeply personal. The richly and elegantly dressed woman looks expectantly at the servant who has just handed her a letter, interrupting the lute. The smile of the servant when she looks at the seated mistress shows her some superiority. The hostess is clearly surprised, she looks uncertainly at the maid, her visit almost frightened the woman. What is this letter? Is this really what the woman has been waiting for so long? The fact that the letter is precisely love (by the name of the picture itself) is proved by several symbolically significant objects. First of all, it is the lute itself - a popular symbol of love, meaning the harmony of two people. We will return to this tool later. Second, the seascape on the wall behind them. As art critics note, the ship in the picture is associated with the motive of the groom as a ship in a calm sea of love, waiting to meet his beloved (like a ship searching the harbor). This symbolism is taken from the book "Emblems of Love" by Jan Harmens Krul, in which he compares love to the sea because of its "mutability". The letter is undoubtedly from a loved one who is currently far from home.

Lute

The lute holds a special place in the history of art. The symbolic meaning of the lute in the 17th century is part of a general musical metonym: it conveys some message of romance. In Renaissance painting, it is an attribute of the personified Music (one of the seven liberal arts), Hearing (one of the five senses), Polyhymnia (one of the muses) and the usual instrument of angels. The lute is a traditional instrument of lovers. Sometimes the lute is the instrument of Orpheus and Apollo. The lute was also an important component in vanitas painting, which represented the futility of pleasures. On Jan Vermeer's canvas, the lute is an attribute of quivering and tender feelings.

Light and color in the picture

In addition to subtly rendered allegories, Jan Vermeer is also highly regarded for his effective and precise use of light. It is not for nothing that he is called the "wizard of light." Using light, he convincingly depicts the space inside the room. Historians believe that Vermeer used several methods to see how light is reflected in a room. The techniques he used include mirrors and a camera obscura, and the Dutch painter can be said to be ahead of his time in his use of color. He used colors effectively to create the mood he wanted. In this case, he filled a quiet, calm and personal scene with neutral and dark colors such as grays, browns, navy blues. As for the shadow, unlike most of his colleagues, Vermeer understood that shadows should not just be dark gray. Instead, they were a mixture of neighboring colors. The Italian artist Caravaggio directly influenced Vermeer's use of the Chiaroscuro, a popular Baroque technique in which light and shadow contrast sharply with each other to enhance the composition. The freshness of yellow and blue, beautiful light treatment and subtle nuances of color in garments and shadows in the interior are the unmistakable work of the master.

Symbolism

The broom and slippers play not only a compositional meaning (they separate the viewer from the feelings and secrets of the heroine), but also play an important symbolic role, especially since the artist has placed them in the foreground. The slippers here reveal illegal love (love outside of marriage). The broom depicted on the everyday scene may indicate that the marriage was forgotten or postponed. And finally, “marrying a broomstick” is a term used to refer to a couple out of wedlock. Thus, the love in the picture is twofold - on the one hand, these are lovers who miss each other, who are in the most anxious period of their feelings (these are romantic messages). On the other hand, this relationship is illegal, outside of marriage. That is why the audience creates a sense of secrecy and precaution: in order not to be condemned by the conservative society of the 17th century, the beloved are forced to keep their relationship secret.

Thus, the lute conveys the main symbolism of Jan Vermeer's painting - the romantic theme of the letter. But the most important feature is the shaded doorway, which makes the audience really feel like outsiders, sudden observers of a personal moment of the plot. You can only catch a glimpse of the two women and the mystery of their gaze, and the content of the letter itself completely captures the curiosity of each observer.

Author: Jamilya Art