Woman Reading a Letter, c.1663/64 Johannes Vermeer, van Delft (1632-1675)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Johannes Vermeer, van Delft also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting Woman Reading a Letter is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

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The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

Johannes Vermeer’s "Woman Reading a Letter" captures a quiet moment that feels both personal and mysteriously distant. Here, a young woman stands by a table in soft light, enveloped in a solitude that Vermeer renders almost sacred. Her gaze is fixed intently on a letter, her fingers delicately holding the paper, as if each word she reads carries weight. The soft, unassuming light casts a calm shadow, gently emphasizing her figure against the cool, muted background. To her right, a large map of Europe looms, not merely as decoration but as an echo of distant places - perhaps a nod to the sender of the letter or a silent commentary on the wider world outside her private sphere.

Vermeer’s color choices are striking, yet subdued. The woman’s blue jacket - a shade rich and saturated - becomes the painting’s anchor. Against a largely muted palette, the blue draws the viewer’s eye instantly, yet remains natural, not overpowering. This is Vermeer at his finest, mastering color to convey both depth and light. The white wall behind her is not simply blank; it absorbs and reflects the light, giving it a tactile, almost velvety quality. These subtle color contrasts lend the scene an ethereal quality, while grounding it in a believable, intimate reality.

In technique, Vermeer’s hallmark is his meticulous attention to texture and light. His brushwork here is seamless, almost invisible - creating a flawless, polished surface that belies the complexity beneath. Look closely, and you see his skill in rendering textures: the softness of her jacket, the faint sheen on the map, the rugged wooden texture of the chairs. There’s a precision to his work, an unerring eye that captures each object and each fold in her clothing with uncanny realism.

The composition is balanced yet enigmatic. The woman is centrally placed, yet partially turned, inviting the viewer’s curiosity while withholding the letter’s contents. Her position - slightly angled - draws our gaze along her profile, down to her hands, and then out to the table’s edge, where letters and papers lie scattered. The empty chair to her left hints at a missing presence, perhaps a loved one who has penned the letter she holds. Meanwhile, the map in the background serves as both a backdrop and an abstract window to the world beyond her room. Vermeer’s use of space is as psychological as it is physical, suggesting layers of intimacy and distance.

In this quiet, contemplative scene, Vermeer captures not just a moment in time, but an emotional state - a mix of anticipation, isolation, and longing that speaks to the human condition. There’s a timelessness to her waiting, a sentiment as relevant now as it was in the 17th century.