UW 1020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Pieter Van Ruijven, A Lady Writing A Letter, Bolnes
Document Summary
The art of painting was a piece that was never sold. Painted himself as a formal gentleman (you wouldn"t want to paint in that outfit) Woman is acting as a muse of history. Chandelier features a double-headed eagle which is a symbol for the habsburgs so the family is literally over the divided netherlands (as seen in the map) His detail and color suggest that he used a camera obscura for color-matching. With the people below, he was a man of science and religion. Possible patron and niece of pieter van ruijven who was the big commissioner (owned view of delft , woman with a balance , etc) The sale of dissius confirms the validity of a vermeer. A trustee of vermeer"s estate who was a microscopist. A catholic so vermeer converted to roman catholicism.
