VERMEER, Johannes
(b. 1632, Delft, d. 1675, Delft)

The Milkmaid (detail)

c. 1658
Oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The still life in the foreground conveys domestic simplicity. The extensive use of pointillé in the still life lets us presume the use of the inverted telescope in an effort to set off this part of the painting against the main figure and alert the viewer to the contrast between the active humanity of the maid and her inanimate environment.