Related Artworks: A Lady Writing

The artworks below constitute a succinct survey of the evolution of the narratives and compositional schemes that can be in some manner be associated with Vermeer's A Lady Writing, before and after it was presumably created.

The individual artworks are arranged in chronological order. However, this order must be considered no more than approximate given that often times the dates of Vermeer's paintings and the related artworks listed herein bear no dates and thus are fruit of art historical speculation. Furthermore, although every effort was made to provide the most accurate title, author, date, technique, dimensions and whereabouts of each artwork, these should be researched thoroughly before drawing definitive conclusions, given that some of this information was derived from internet websites whose reliability cannot be guaranteed.

When an artwork's date was not found the painter's birth and dates are given between parentheses. When it was not possible to determine the current location of the art work, it is given as either "Whereabouts unknown" or "Private collection (?)"

In order to improve the quality of this survey readers are strongly encouraged to signal both new artworks and inaccuracies.

Click on the thumbnail images to access a higher resolution image.

Woman with Wax Tablets and Stylus (so-called "Sappho")
Between 55 and 79 A. D.
Fresco on gesso, 37 x 38 cm.
Naples National Archaeological Museum, Naples

Portrait of a Young Lady
Master of the Female Half-Lengths
Active 1430s'1440s

A Woman as the Magdalen Writing at a Table in an Interior
Master of the Female Half-Lengths
Active 1430s-1440s
Oil on panel, 42.2 × 30.6 cm.
Private collection (?)

Jean Miélot in his scriptorium
Miracles de Notre-Dame
Jean Le Tavernier, illuminator.
Parchemin, II + III (table) + 153 + 1 f.
c. 90 × 290 mm. 59 Miniatures
Second half of 15th century
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris

Ovide, Héroïdes, traduction d' Octavien de Saint-Gelais
1497
Manuscript
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Manuscrits, Paris

Ovide, Héroïdes, traduction d' Octavien de Saint-Gelais
1497
Manuscript
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Manuscrits, Paris

"Oenone, with a Grassy Lawn Visible Behind Her"
Les XXI Epistres des Dames illustres traduicttes d'Ovide par le Reverend Pere en Dieu Monseigneur l'Evesque de Angoulesme
Turn of the 15th century (France)
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California

Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam Writing
Hans Holbein
1523
Paper mounted on pine, 36.8 x 30.5 cm.
Kunstmuseum, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel

Laura Pisani
Circle of Dosso Dossi
c. 1525
Oil on canvas, 94.6 x 79.4 cm.
J. P. Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Portrait of a Merchant
Jan Gossaert
1530
Oil on panel, 63.6 x 47.5 cm.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Saint Bneventure in his Studio
Pseudo-Giovenone
c. 1530
Oil on canvas, 27.1 x 31.9 cm.
Accademia Carrara, Accademia Carrara

A Young Woman Writing
After Jan Sanders van Hemessen
c. 1530
Oil on oak, 28.2 × 24.2 cm.
National Gallery, London

Saint Jerome Writing
Caravaggio
c. 1605–1606
Oil on canvas, 112 x 157 cm.
Galleria Borghese, Rome

Cupid and a Messenger
An emblem from:
Amorum Emblemata
Otto Vaenius
Published 1608, Antwerp p. 132

Seventeenth-century emblem books, which were immensely popular in the Netherlands, gave great attention to the theme of the love letter, often with Cupid in his role as a harbinger of love. An illustration in an emblem book by Otto Vaenius shows Cupid reading a love letter in the presence of a messenger wearing his traditional staff, cape and hat.

The emblem text reads:

Loues ioy is reuyued by letters.
When loue impatient growes through absence & delay,
And with his loue to bee no remedie can fynd,
Loue letters come to him & tell his louers mynd,
Whereby his ioy is kept from dying and decay.

Saint Gregory the Great
Spagnoletto
c. 1614
Oil on canvas, 102 x 73 cm.
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome

Saint Paul Writing His Epistles
Attributed to Valentin de Boulogne
c. 1618–1620
Oil on canvas, 99.3 x 52.3 cm.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

St. John the Evangelist
Crispijn van de Passe, after Lucas van Leyden (1574–1637)
-
Engraving, 20.9 x 13.4 cm.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Paul at his Desk
Jacob Cuyp
1627
Oil on canvas, 72.5 x 100 cm.
Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht

A Scholar
Rembrandt
1631
Oil on canvas, 104.5 x 92 cm.
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Woman Tearing a Letter
Dirck Hals
1631
Oil on panel, 45 x 55 cm.
Landesmuseum, Mainz

Allegory of Vanity
Leonaert Bramer
c. 1640
Oil on copper, 80.3 x 61.3 cm.
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Specialists believe that picture-within-a-picture on the background wall of Vermeer's A Lady Writing, which represents a bass viol is a so-called Vanitas and was part of the artist's mother-in-law's art collection. This Allegory of Vanity is by Leonaert Bramer, a thriving Delft painter who was intimate friend of Vermeer's family.

Portrait of Johan van Beverwijck (1594–1647) in his Study
Jan Olis
c. 1640
Oil on panel, 25.7 x 20.5 cm.
Mauritshuis, The Hague

Cupid Presenting Letter to a Maid
Emblem from Jan Harmenz. Krul, Pampier Wereld (Amsterdam, 1644), vol.. 2
Koniklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague (2148 E4 p. 81 dl.3)

This emblem illustration is drawn from Jan Harmensz. Krul's book Pampiere wereld (Paper World). Amatory poems, songs, and this emblem mid-seventeenth century portrayed the lover so overwhelmed with desire that he or she can no longer perform daily tasks effectively. According to Krul, this maid who receives the letter delivered by Cupid typifies "maids who fall in love but have no sense."

Allegory of Rhetoric
Artemisia Gentileschi
c. 1650
Oil on canvas, 90 × 72 cm.
Private collection, Robilant+Voena Gallery, London-Milan

Portrait of a Lady Seated at a Writing Table, Wearing a Blue Dress with a White Sash
Nicolas Mignard
1653
Oil on canvas, 129 x 98 cm.
Private collection (?)

Smoker
Copy after Gerrit ter Borch
17th century
Oil on canvas, 39.5 x 32.4 cm.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

Woman Writing a Letter
Gerrit ter Borch
c. 1655
Oil on panel, 38 x 29.5 cm.
Mauritshuis, The Hague

Title page, from D. Mosaert's Vermeerderde Nederduytsche Secretaris oft zendtbrief schryver (Amsterdam, 1656)
Koninlijke Bibliotheek, The Hague (28 B 42 titdp.)

With the proliferation of private, personalized letter writing in the seventeenth century, a number of letter-writing manuals were published. The art historian Svetlana Alpers linked them to a flurry of epistolary manuals published during the same years. In these manuals Instructions were given on the proper modes of composition and address for a variety situations, including matters of love, as swell as advice on calligraphy and sharpening pens. One of the most popular was D. Mosaert's Vermeerderde Nederduytsche Secretaris oft zendtbrief schryver, published in over 30 editions, 19 in the Netherlands alone.

Young Woman Stringing Pearls
Frans van Mieris
1658
Oil on panel, 23 x 18.3 cm.
Musée Fabre, Montpellier

Officer Writing a Letter, with a Trumpeter
Gerrit ter Borch
c. 1658–1659
Oil on canvas, 56.8 x 43.8 cm.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

The Letter Writer Surprised
Gabriel Metsu
c. 1658–1660
Oil on oak panel, 45.2 x 38.6 cm.
Wallace Collection, London

A Young Man Writing at a Lectern
Jacob van Oost (active 1618–1671)
-
Oil on canvas, 77 x 60 cm.
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, Nantes

Curiosity (detail)
Gerrit ter Borch
c. 1660
Oil on canvas, 76 x 62 cm.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

A Woman Writing a Letter
Gabriel Metsu
c. 1662–1664
Oil on panel, 39.4 x 31.1 cm.
Private collection, New York

Man Writing a Letter
Gabriel Metsu
c. 1662–1665
Oil on canvas, 53 x 40 cm.
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

Young Man with Fur Hat, Writing a Book
Constantijn Verhout, after Gabriel Metsu
c. 1663–1667
Drawing paper, 22 x 18.4 cm.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

A Young Woman Composing a Piece of Music
Gabriel Metsu
c. 1664
Oil on canvas, 57.8 x 43.3 cm.
Mauritshuis, The Hague

A Lady Reading a Letter
Gerrit ter Borch
c. 1665
Oil on canvas, 76 x 62 cm.
Wallace Collection, London

Young Girl Reading a Letter
Caspar Netscher
c. 1665
Oil on canvas, 73.5 x 50.5 cm.
Private collection

A Lady Writing
Johannes Vermeer
c. 1662–1667
Oil on canvas, 45 x 39.9 cm.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Lady in Mourning Clothes Reading a Letter
Gerrit ter Borch (1617–1681)
-
Oil on canvas, 44 x 39 cm.
Private collection

The Reader
Eglon van der Neer (1635/36–1703)
-
Oil on canvas, 38.1 x 27.9 cm.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Declaration of Love to the Woman Reading
Jacob Ochtervelt
c. 1670
Oil on canvas, 46.8 x 38.4 cm.
Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe

The Letter Writer
Frans van Mieris
c. 1670–1680
Oil on panel, 18.5 x 14.5 cm.
Private collection, France

Woman Writing a Letter
Frans van Mieris
1680
Oil on panel, 25 x 20 cm.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Gentleman Reading a Letter
Gerrit ter Borch
c. 1680
Oil on panel, 40.3 x 34.5 cm.
Detroit Institite of Arts, Chicago

Young Woman Writing
Pieter Schenk after Gerrit ter Borch
1684
Etching, 38 x 31.2 cm.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Young Woman Writing a Love Letter
Pietro Antonio Rotari
c. 1755
Oil on canvas, 84.8 x 68.6 cm.
Norton Simon Art Foundation, San Diego

"Ecritures," (Writing) Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 2 (plates)
Denis Diderot
Paris, 1763

A Man Writing at his Desk
Jan Ekels
1784
Oil on panel, 51.5 x 39.5 cm.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

A Writer Trimming his Pen
Jan Ekels
1784
Oil on panel, 27.5 x 23.5 cm.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Comtesse de Cérès (formerly, Lady Folding a Letter)
Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun
1784
Oil on canvas, 75 x 93 cm.
The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo

Portrait of the Princess of Lamballe
Anton Hickel
1788
Oil on canvas, 66 × 44 cm.
Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna

Portrait of Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen
Veybrand Hendricks
c. 1790
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem

The Letter
Boilly Louis Léopold (1761–1845)
-
Oil on canvas, 52.7 x 45 cm.
Fondation Bemberg, Toulouse

Portrait oif a Young Woman
Gilbert Stuart
c. 1802–1804
Oil on canvas, 73.6 x 61.6 cm.
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis

Portrait of Sarah Wolff Cruttendon
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
1821
Oil on canvas, 65 × 49 cm.
Private collection (?)

Woman Writing a Letter
Pierre Duval-Lecamus (1790–1854)
-
Oil on canvas
Musee d'Art Thomas Henrey, Cherboug, France

Girl Writing a Letter
Florent Willems (1823–1905)
-
Oil on canvas, 30 x 24.5 cm.
Hermitage, St. Petersburg

The Letter
Camille Corot
c. 1865
Oil on wood, 54.6 x 36.2 cm.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Woman Writing a Letter
Ogawa Kazumasa
c. 1890
Albumen on paper with hand-tinting
Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu

Girl Writing
Milton Avery
1914
Oil on canvas, 121.9 x 80.6 cm.
The Philips Collection, Philadelphia

The Letter
1918
Guido Rey
Print, platinum, 21.9 x 17 cm.
Getty Center, Los Angeles

A Young Woman Reading
Unknow imitator of Vermeer
c. 1925–1927
Oil on canvas, 19.7 x 14.6 cm.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Reading at a Table
Pablo Picasso
1934
Oil on canvas, 162.2 x 130.5 cm.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Portrait of Woman Writing Letter at Desk
George Marks
1950
Photograph (b&w)

Young Girl Writing
2021
Digital photograph