Two Shades of Love in Vermeer’s Paintings

Two Pendant Paintings

These two paintings left Johannes Vermeer’s studio as a pair, were probably separated at a sale in Amsterdam in 1714, and were then reunited in two independent purchases by Thoré-Bürger in the 1860s. They were separated again in December 1892, when they were sold to two different collectors. A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal was purchased by the National Gallery in London immediately after that sale. In the case of A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, it was sold to George Salting in the late 1800s and came into the possession of the National Gallery upon his death in 1910. The two paintings were thus reunited and have been in their present home in London ever since.

There are a number of reasons to believe that these two paintings were intended to be a pair. They are almost identical in size and are of similar subject matter. They both have the black-and-white checkered marble floors as seen in other Vermeer paintings, but it is only in these two that he puts so much swirl and texture into the white tiles.

In both paintings, a woman is looking out to us, inviting us to be her guest. In A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, a chair awaits the visitor, and in A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, there is a viola da gamba in need of a player. In both cases, the woman is inviting company: the empty chair and the un-played instrument both are invitations for a guest. And in both paintings, Vermeer makes use of a painting within the painting to give us hints about the nature of the love being depicted.

But from here the structure and the message of the two paintings diverge dramatically. Vermeer approves of one sort of love, and not so much the other. He wants us to feel a sense of ease with the standing woman but to be uncomfortable with the seated one. He uses a series of subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle hints to create those two contrasting moods in these two scenes of different approaches to love.

The Lighting

We are immediately struck by how different the lighting is in the two paintings. The midday sun pours through the windows of the painting of the standing woman, illuminating the room. Although we can’t see out of the window, the bright outside light is brought into the scene. The lighting in the painting of the seated woman contrasts markedly. In this instance, we are peeking in past a curtain on a darker, tenser nighttime scene. No light comes from the shuttered window. Even if there had been light coming through the window, it would have been blocked by the blue curtain hanging from the ceiling. The cheery daylight in the first instance is replaced with the dim austere lighting of the evening, creating very different moods.

The Sheet Music

In A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, the woman is playing the music “by heart”—there is no score on the stand. The relationship she has with the music is thus spiritual—she and the music are one, just as in the romantic notion of an innocent love. The seated woman in the other painting has the sheet music in front of her; she has not committed the music to memory. Her connection to the music requires some effort; there seems to be no connection between the music and her soul.

The Musical Instruments

The structure of the two virginals differs. The light highlights the lid of the virginal of the standing woman. It has a replica of the landscape painting adorning the wall behind her, making it an innocent, outdoorsy, almost playful display. By contrast, the side of the virginal played by the seated woman is a dark faux marbling on the instrument case. It is a precise rectangle—the far edge is the same height as the one closer to the viewer. This purposeful “error” in perspective and the distinct light on the side of the virginal both serve to bring extra attention to this part of the painting. It does not appear to be particularly realistic marbling, especially when contrasted with the marbling on the floor. The side of this instrument is presented with the tension of Jackson Pollock’s paintings that would come three centuries later.

The serenity and calm of the instrument in front of the standing woman are replaced with the chaotic feel of the instrument played by the seated woman. Vermeer is again guiding us towards a negative judgment of the seated woman.

The Floor Tiles

The way the floor tiles of the two paintings are depicted also shows an interesting contrast. In A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, the pattern of the floor tiles complements the orderly set of right angles in the paintings on the wall, the tiles at the base of the wall, and the instrument casing itself. The angles are precise and create a sense of order. The floor tiles in A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal are obscured by the shadows, are fewer in number, seem almost out of place, and add to the cluttered, awkward, and uncomfortable feel of the painting.

The Paintings in the Paintings

The paintings on the walls behind the musicians also show a contrasting story. The ebony-framed painting on the wall directly behind the standing woman’s head is Cupid, who holds up a blank card.

The Cupid is likely a painting by Cesar van Everdingen that was included in the inventory of goods taken shortly after Vermeer’s death. The van Everdingen painting in turn borrowed from an emblem published in a book in Antwerp 60 years earlier.

In that emblem, the card in Cupid’s hand has a Roman numeral “I” on it: the ace of hearts. He stands on a card embossed with other numbers, trampling them out. The emblem’s motto, “Perfects Amor non est nisi ad unum,” states that “a perfect love involves only one lover.” Vermeer has used this Cupid in three other paintings, in each case to convey a message about faithfulness in love.

In this version, it appears as though the card in Cupid’s hand is missing the Roman numeral I. It is unclear if that is a result of overzealous cleaning over the years, or if Vermeer left it that way when he created this painting, but either way, Cupid is celebrating the fidelity of the woman at the virginal, and indeed celebrates it with us. Cupid is also seen in one of the tiles in the floor skirting, again reminding us that the theme of the painting is one of innocent or faithful love.

The painting on the wall of A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal is Dirck van Baburen’s The Procuress, which shows the mercenary love of the bordello. Owned at the time by Vermeer’s mother-in-law, it depicts a prostitute, a bearded customer, and the elderly procuress pointing to her palm to request payment.

That scene provides a rather substantial contrast to the playful and romantic Cupid in the first painting. The notion of faithful, romantic love-from-the-heart in the daylight of the first painting is contrasted with a more profane love-for-hire in the darkness of the second.

Two Different Loves

The calm harmony of the virginal and the empty chair in A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal contrasts with the dissonance of the virginal and the viola de gamba in A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal. In the first instance, the cheery smile from the woman in the well-lit room standing under the Cupid picture is inviting us to join her, to take a seat, and to enjoy the music. In the second picture, the erect neck of the viola de gamba provides a much more specific hint as to the nature of the invitation. Vermeer is telling us that this version is a more transactional love.

In these two companion paintings that at first glance are so similar, a similarity exacerbated by their nearly-identical titles, a more in-depth examination shows us that Vermeer is telling stories of two very different sorts of love: One is a story of pure faithful love, the other an account of love apportioned by the hour.