Table with still life

A still life can be found on the table to the left of the picture, featuring a plaster cast of a face, a sketchbook, a stood-up book and various cloths. There’s more to still life in 17th century Dutch painting than the simple reproduction of objects.

In Vermeer’s case it portrays the applied arts attached to the Guild of St. Luke. Vermeer chairs the guild in Delft periodically, bringing together painters, glass blowers, sculptors, potters, weavers, stool makers, printmakers, colourists and stationers.

With his inconsequential yet artistic arrangement of everyday objects this is a great example of hidden symbolism in painting. In the form of a pictorial puzzle or rebus (Latin for ‘through things’) this symbolism underlines the intellectual challenge painting presents us with.