Jan Vermeer - The Art of Painting [1666-68]

Jan Vermeer - The Art of Painting [1666-68], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The drawn-back curtain opens a view of a room that is bathed in light from a window on the left (not visible in the picture). On the back wall is a detailed map of the Netherlands. In the foreground a chair and the table behind it, covered with various articles, direct the viewer’s gaze to the middle distance. His back towards the viewer, the painter sits at his easel; he has begun work on a half-length portrait of the girl standing at the window. Thus painting occupies the most prominent place among the arts. The articles on the table represent sculpture (plaster cast), art printing (book) and tapestry weaving (fabrics). But what is the meaning of the model the artist is painting? The female figure is holding a trumpet and a book in her hands and is wearing a laurel wreath in her hair. Thus she is Clio, the Muse of history. 

[Kunsthistorishes Museum, Vienna - Oil on canvas, 100 x 120 cm]