By Kiara de Castro Ruiz
A WOMAN ASLEEP
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
A corner of a wall map
• This area represents a corner of a wall map
• MAP: popular and cheap decorative
• More clearly depicted in this picture : the map's hanging rod
The chair
•The chair: an indicator of social rank •Two different types of chair:
The foreground chair The chair on which the
young woman is seated
The vista opening into another room
Doorkijkje: very popular in Ducth interior paintings
The painting on the wallThis figure has beenassociated with twocontemporary images: 1. an emblem in Otto van
Veen's popular Amorum Emblemata (Antwerp, 1608)
2. a standing putto or Cupid holding up a card, in the style of Cesar van Everdingen
The girl's face
•Maid or mistress?
•Drunk, depressed or asleep?
Oriental carpet
•Carpets from Turkey and Iran
•Became very popular in the 16-17th century
•In nine of Vermeer's paintings
View of an Interior, or The SlippersSamuel van HoogstratenLouvre, Paris
AcediaHieronymus Wierix Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam
The Idle ServantNicolaes MaesNational Gallery, London
Related Works
The Listening Housewife Nicolas MaesWallace Collection, London
MelancholiaAlbrecht Dürerengraving