Young Woman with a Water Pitcher
Johannes Vermeer, Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, ca. 1662. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Marquand Collection / Gift of Henry G. Marquand.
Background
Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) was a Dutch painter who worked during the 1600s, a time when culture in the Dutch Republic flourished. Johannes’s paintings are famous for being realistic, particularly the way he painted light and shadow. He also used very expensive materials to make the colors he used in his work. Johannes’s paintings are useful to historians because they offer a window into life in the Dutch Republic in the 1600s.
About the Image
This portrait illustrates the authority and prestige of the Dutch trading empire in the 1600s. The young woman’s clothing marks her as a member of the Dutch middle class—the merchants, clerks, and other professionals who made their living from international trade. In the 1600s, trade was a pathway to wealth and prosperity. Women and men could make their living buying and selling goods from all over the world.
The materials of the woman’s outfit come from all over the world. Her hood and collar are made of high-quality linen that was spun from flax imported from Scotland, Greece, or the Americas. The deep blue color of her skirt was created using indigo imported from India or Japan. Her fitted bodice is made from silk imported from China.
The young woman is surrounded by other symbols of Dutch trade. The carpet draped across the table represents trade with India, while the silver used to make the pitcher and bowl was mined in South America. The map on the wall puts Holland, a province of the Dutch Republic, at the center of a worldwide web of commerce. The open window symbolizes that the country is open to the opportunities and influences of international trade. The position of the young woman’s body welcomes all these influences into the home.
As dazzling as this vision of Dutch prosperity is, it is important to remember that the wealth on display was generated by exploiting the people and natural resources that the Dutch colonized in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Vocabulary
- bodice: The vest part of a woman’s dress.
- commerce: The business of buying and selling goods.
- Dutch Republic: The name of the country of the Dutch in Europe from 1581 to 1795.
- flax: A blue-flowered plant.
- indigo: A tropical plant used to make dark blue dyes.
- linen: A type of cloth woven from fibers from flax.
Discussion Questions
- What does this painting reveal about the Dutch trading empire?
- Why did Vermeer choose a young woman for the subject of this painting?
- Why are paintings a valuable resource for studying societies of the past?
Suggested Activities
- APUSH Connection: 2.7 Colonial Society and Culture
- Include this painting in any lesson on European colonial power. This resource demonstrates to students the wealth and prosperity colonization brought to citizens of colonial powers back in Europe.
- The riches on display in this painting came at a high human cost. To explore this issue further, teach this painting in conjunction with The Middle Passage and Life in Encomienda.
- Few Dutch citizens were eager to settle in the American colonies. Pair this resource with Catalina Trico, Founding Mother to consider why the Dutch West India Company needed couples like Catalina Trico and Joris Rapalje to settle in New Netherland.
- Consider the trade connections in the Dutch Republic and its colonies by combining this resource with any of the following:
- Invite students to cut up the painting and place each trade item on a world map to create a striking visual of the expanse of the Dutch trade empire. Then have the students consider or research the impact Dutch trade had on these communities.
- Every trade item represented in the painting had its own journey from raw material to finished product. Assign students a research project where they dig deeper into the way one of the items in the painting was produced.
Themes
WORK, LABOR, AND ECONOMY
