Portrait of Kornelia, or a Letter from Vermeer
About this painting
- Year
- 2018
- Dimensions
- 60×80 cm
- Technique
- oil on canvas
- Cycle
- Outside any cycle
Description
The letter she has received wraps around her as a ribbon of light — as if reading were a spell, and the words circled in the air like the ghost of an old master. A young blonde woman with long straight hair stands in profile at a window of leaded glass, intently reading a letter held in both hands. She wears a floral dress patterned with small red-and-blue bouquets on a pale ground. Above the window hangs a heavy, dark red curtain. Around the figure coils a streak of bright, luminous light tracing a loop — the only unreal element in this Vermeer-like, warmly lit interior scene.