''Officer and Laughing Girl'', also known as ''Officer and a Laughing Girl'', ''Officer With a Laughing Girl'' or ''De Soldaat en het Lachende Meisje'', was painted by the Dutch artist

Johannes Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately succe ...

in around 1657. It was painted in

oil on canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest o ...

, typical of most Dutch artists of the time, and is 50.5 by 46 cm. It is now one of three pictures by Vermeer in

The Frick Collection The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and European fine and decorative arts, including works by ...

in New York ''Officer and Laughing Girl'' includes many of the characteristics of Vermeer's style. The main subject is a woman in a yellow dress, light is coming from the left-hand side of the painting from an open window, and there is a large map on the wall. Each of these elements occur in some of his other paintings, although this painting differs slightly with the man also sitting at the table. Art historians, who have suggested conflicting interpretations of the work, believe that a painting by Gerard van Honthorst inspired the composition and that Vermeer used a

camera obscura A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. ''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions such as a box or tent in w ...

to create the perspective in this painting.

Subject and interpretation

The main subject is the woman at the center, whose face is illuminated by soft, direct light. She resembles Vermeer's wife, Catharina Bolnes, who is believed to have posed for many of his paintings. With x-ray photographs, art historians have determined that Vermeer had originally planned to paint the woman with a large white collar, which would have hidden much of her yellow dress. Also, her cap was later extended to cover all of her hair, drawing more attention to her face and expression. This yellow bodice with braiding has appeared in many of Vermeer's other portraits; it is called a schort and was usually worn as an everyday, common dress. Over her dress the woman wears a blue apron, mostly hidden in the shadows of the table. Blue aprons were common attire at that time because they hid stains well. Art historians have interpreted this to mean that the soldier has surprised the girl with an impromptu visit during her morning chores. The woman holds a wine glass, usually used for white wine. Because at that time wine cost more than beer, it indicates her wealth. The cavalier in the foreground wears a red coat and an expensive hat, displaying his wealth and rank. His hat is wide-brimmed and made of beaver pelt, which was weather-resistant and good for snowy and rainy conditions. The pelts for these hats were imported from the New World, in this case probably from

New Netherlands New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva P ...

, which was then under the Dutch West India Company's control. The red in his uniform is associated with power and passion, bringing a passionate and emotional note to the painting. His rank as an officer is indicated by the black sash he wears. His striking presence in the immediate foreground brings drama and depth to the mood of the composition. This artistic device—in which an object is placed in the foreground to increase the depth of field of the overall painting—is called repoussoir. Caravaggio often used this technique and Vermeer probably learned it from a Caravaggist's painting. The nature of the interaction between the woman and the soldier can only be conjectured. Many art historians believe that it only portrays a woman being innocently and honorably courted by this soldier. However, some have suggested that her open hand and smile could indicate a discreet willingness to engage in sex. "The Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer of Delft (1632-1675) holds a position of great honor among map historians. Several of his painting illustrate maps hanging on walls or globes standing on tables or cabinets. Vermeer painted these cartographical documents with such detail that it is often possible to identify the actual maps. Evidently, Vermeer was particularly attached to a Willem Blaeu - Balthasar Florisz van Berckenrode map of Holland and West Friesland (historical region), West Friesland, as he represented it as a wall decoration in three of his paintings... Though no longer extant, the map's existence is known from archival sources and a second edition published by Willem Blaeu in 1621, titled "Nova et Accurata Totius Hollandiae Westfriesiaeq. Topographia, Descriptore Balthazaro Florentio a Berke[n]rode Batavo". Vermeer must have had a copy at his disposal (or the earlier one published by Van Berckenrode). Around 1658 he showed it as a wall decoration in his painting "Officer and Laughing Girl", . . . Bright sunlight bathes the girl and the large map on the wall. Vermeer's gift for realism is evidenced by the fact that the wall map, mounted on linen and wooden rods, is identifiable as Blaeu's 1621 map of Holland and West Friesland. He captures all of its characteristic design, decoration, and geographic content."

Window

The window and lighting is characteristic of Vermeer's interior paintings, most likely because it is modeled after the room he painted in. This window is extremely similar to the window in the ''Girl Reading a Letter'' and ''Open Window and the Milkmaid''. The glass in the window has many variations of color, showing Vermeer's precision in the details of this painting. Only bright light comes in from the window and no outside scene can be observed, as Vermeer never allows the viewer to see the outside world.

Camera obscura

Some art historians believe that Vermeer used a device called a

to help him create the perspective in his painting. Instead of using a mathematical formula or a vanishing point, Vermeer probably used this mechanical device to show him what the relative size of the people should be. A camera obscura is similar to a camera as it projects an image seen through the aperture into a dark chamber. There is no historical evidence that Vermeer used such a device but the way he portrays perspective in many of his paintings, including ''Officer and Laughing Girl'', suggests that he did.

Painting materials

The older pigment analysis by W. Kuhn and also the more recent data collection revealed the use of the typical pigments of the Baroque period: ochres, lead-tin-yellow, natural ultramarine, and azurite.Johannes Vermeer, Officer and Laughing Girl
ColourLex
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References

External links

''The Milkmaid'' by Johannes Vermeer
exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on this painting *http://www.essentialvermeer.com/catalogue/officer_and_laughing_girl.html *Johannes Vermeer, Officer and Laughing Girl
ColourLex
*
Officer and Laughing Girl
' at the website of The Frick Collection * Online lecture by Aimee Ng, in th
Cocktails with a Curator
series, released 17 July 2020 {{ACArt Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer 1650s paintings Paintings in the Frick Collection Maps in art Cartography in the Dutch Republic Early modern Netherlandish cartography