Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter who lived from 1632 to 1675. He was known for painting scenes of middle-class domestic lifestyles. He was known for works of art, but was not known for having painted many paintings during his lifetime. Before going into detail about JohannesVermeer's Love Letter, I will describe what I see at first glance. The painting takes place in two small rooms with a draped curtain that is raised to distinguish the two rooms. The curtain to me symbolizes intimacy and how the painter wants us to feel like we are watching someone's life. The floors are titled with a black and white checkered look which helps give depth to the painting. There are two women, one sitting in a chair holding a lute (which looks like a guitar) in her lap with one hand and the other hand holding what looks like a letter. She wears a yellow skirt with a matching yellow and white top. His hair is also covered with a yellow band of the same color. Her facial expression appears confused as she looks up at another woman who I assume is her maid or servant standing above her. The Servant wears a blue skirt with a brown and white top. Her hair is also covered with a white band. She is standing with her hand on her hip with a smile on her face. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To me, the servant seems to know something and is satisfied with the fact that she knows it. There are also two paintings on the wall that I noticed. One of the paintings depicts a sailboat on a bright sunny day with white clouds and the other is a forest with a person standing in the distance. What I noticed that was interesting was a broom, slippers, laundry basket, etc., all placed sporadically on the floor. To me, this seems like a way to relate to the viewers. It symbolizes everyday lifestyles with everyday things that happen. Light is an important element in this painting, the back of the painting is where my eye goes first because there is more light there. The shadowy door helps the drapery distinguish the two rooms. The light comes from the left and moves to the servant and then to the woman. You can really see the flow of light and how it moves everywhere. There is so much meaning in this painting that you can't see it at my first glance. I love how I had to look and dissect this work of art to really get to the bottom of what's going on. How can you understand that the artwork belongs to the period/style it belongs to. Johannes' love letter period was Baroque art in the Dutch Republic. There are many reasons why I can say the artwork dates from this period. It has movement, emotional intensity, reality, light effects, diagonals, dynamism and energy. The emotional intensity of baroque art that the love letter certainly possesses. The intensity of the letter in the woman's hand and what the letter symbolizes also makes us care about what the letter says. Another way to say this is diagonals, we see this in the way light moves. The light in the love letter is diagonal throughout the painting. Another way to put it is that Baroque paintings in the Dutch Republic were real and not idealized. In the love letter we see real life actions. No matter how old the painting is, I still have the feeling that it could receive a love letter and I feel the emotion of what that woman feels. Another way to tell it is that there is an allusion to space. We see it through the floor which has shadows and we see it through the curtains. You could say that it is not the same in every time period. The answer is no, looking back at the paintings.