The love letter by Vermeer

The Love Letter is an oil painting on canvas (44x38 cm) by Jan Vermeer, dated between 1669 and 1770, conserved at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The artist’s signature – “IVMeer” – can be found on the wall above the basket. The painting could be the one described at number six in the catalogue of the Dissius auction held in Amsterdam in 1692. It is properly documented only in 1892, when it was acquired at auction by the Rembrandt Association, who donated the work to the Rijksmuseum the following year. In 1971 the canvas was stolen, cut out of its frame. This resulted in the loss of approximately half a centimetre of painted surface on each side of the work. Even though born of the same fruit, Vermeer could not be more different from the Roman Baroque of Palazzo Barberini. Its games of illusion, magnificent lighting and the Pietro da Cortona room are in stark contrast to Vermeer’s intimate and soothing masterpiece. His domestic scenes, rendered with photographic precision and in vivid detail, are like a frame for the soul, one that is always surprising and almost impossible to decipher.