# The Love Letter

- By: Johannes Vermeer (Delft, 1632–1675)
- Date: c. 1669 - c. 1670
- Medium: canvas, oil paint (paint)
- Classification: painting
- Dimensions: height 44 cm x width 38.5 cm
- Credit line: Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/SK-A-1595--508513eb7ee162ec2f68ea3d3138d912)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/DwMQy/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Vermeer chose an unusual vantage point for this painting. From a dim space in the foreground, a glimpse is afforded of another room with a domestic scene. An elegantly dressed woman looks up expectantly at a maidservant, who has just handed her a letter. The seascape on the wall behind them may well allude to the epistle’s subject: during the 17th century, the sea was often compared to love, and the lover to a ship.