Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675), Woman reading a letter, ca. 1663

This oil painting by the Netherlandish painter Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) depicts a woman reading a letter. The blue of her jacket is particularly eye-catching. In order to produce the ultramarine pigment that Vermeer used here to achieve the intensity of this colour, the mineral lapis lazuli was needed, which was imported from Central Asia at great expense.

Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675), Woman reading a letter, oil on canvas, ca. 1663, source: Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inv. no. SK-C-251, loan from the city of Amsterdam, http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.6420, public domain.