RIJKSMUSEUM , The Milkmaid Vermeer

In one of the rooms that looks onto the main gallery, you can admire three magnificent paintings by the world-famous Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, known for the almost photographic realism of his works.

The great artist, who was born in Delft in 1632 and died at the age of just 43 in 1675, left us with just forty or so small works in which, however, he was able to bring a touch of profoundly intimate humanity to everyday activities that no painter has ever been able to equal.

Vermeer’s close familiarity with the female universe allowed him to frequently portray women in the privacy of their homes, and The Milkmaid, painted around 1658, is one of his best-known works.

The other Vermeer paintings you can see in the Rijksmuseum are Girl Reading a Letter, the small landscape painting entitled The Little Street, and the indoor scene entitled The Love Letter, which I’ll be telling you about later....