THE LITTLE STREET

(Het Straatje)

c. 1657-1661
oil on canvas
21 3/8 x 17 3/8 in. (53.3 x 44 cm.)
The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

"Time, halted for this instant and therefore in a sense for eternity, seems to be his essential subject. Its wear and tear is visible in the bricks and mortar, the fabric of fact that bluntly underpins our tenuous and temporary hold with its many unanswerable questions, such as 'What are we doing here?' And yet according to some art historians the picture is also about the ideals of domestic virtue: the grape-vine symbolizes love and marital fidelity. Psalm 128 says: 'Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house.' Catharina was often 'full and sweet' as the Dutch described the state of pregnancy. And Vermeer allows for this sense of development in his painting. Unlike de Hooch, who freezes his figures for once and for all, he gives us the feeling that at any moment the woman in the doorway will put her sewing or embroidery away and call to the children; time for some food. And the servant will come in from the passageway and help in the kitchen."

Vermeer: A View of Delft , Anthony Bailey, 2001