Woman in a yellow bodice and blue apron pours milk from an earthenware jug into a bowl beside a window

The Milkmaid

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What you see

A woman stands by a window on the left, carefully pouring a thin stream of milk from an earthenware jug into a bowl on the table. She wears a white cap, a yellow bodice with rolled-up green sleeves, a blue apron and a red skirt. On the table are a basket of bread, a blue-and-white jug and loose pieces of bread. Her lowered gaze leads ours down to the stream.

The yellow and blue of her clothes glow against the nearly white wall, dotted with nails, marks and small holes. Light pours through the window panes. Keep an eye out for the basket and the brass pail hanging on the wall, the tiles along the base of the wall and the wooden box with holes on the floor, at right.

About Johannes Vermeer

Johannes Vermeer lived his whole life in Delft and painted very slowly: only about 35 of his works are known. He loved the soft light that comes through a window and falls on quiet scenes of daily life. He used very expensive pigments, such as ultramarine blue made from a precious stone.

All 10 works by Johannes Vermeer