Why it matters
A young woman in a yellow bodice bends over her work, placing a pin in her lace pillow. At just 24.5 by 21 cm it is Vermeer's smallest painting, with a blurred foreground that suggests he may have used a camera obscura.
Did you know?
- The red and white threads spill from the sewing cushion almost like liquid.
- The canvas came from the same bolt as that of A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals.
- Lawrence Gowing wrote: 'There is only one Lacemaker: we cannot imagine another.'
Based on the Wikipedia article The Lacemaker (Vermeer) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
