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Vermeer’s Brilliant Allegory on the Value of Art
A masterfully crafted painting rich in symbolism
A woman stands at the far end of a room, lit by an unseen window.
She is having her portrait painted by an ostentatious-looking artist. The atmosphere is heightened by the sense of intimacy, focused on the woman’s task of remaining perfectly still for the painter.
Johannes Vermeer was in his mid-30s when he made this impeccable image in around 1668. Though still young, he had entered the full conviction of his artistic powers and there is good reason to think that he considered The Art of Painting his finest painting.
For evidence of the painterly virtuosity on show, you need only look at the marble-tiled floor and notice how the cast of light steadily diminishes from left to right. It is brilliantly done. The effect is barely perceptible yet vital to the realism of the painting. Observe too how the shadows of the artist’s stool and feet blend seamlessly with this declining light — all at the same time as maintaining the geometric pattern of the tiles under the logic of perspective.
Yet, as well as being one of his most impressive renderings of light and space, the painting also bears an elaborate array of signs and symbols waiting to be decoded…
Repoussoir
Perhaps the first thing to note about this impressive image is the tapestry that hangs close at hand along the left side of the image. It has been drawn aside like a drape — the impact is to reveal the scene in front of us.
The word for this painting technique is repoussoir (pronounced “reh-poo-swahr”). It is a compositional device that serves to direct the viewer’s attention toward the main subject of the work, using an object positioned in the foreground and to one side.
Vermeer’s use of the repoussoir technique is emphatic, successfully drawing us into the room’s…
