Woman Holding a Balance, also called Woman Testing a Balance, is an oil painting by Dutch Baroque artist Johannes Vermeer. At one time the painting, completed 1662-1663, was known as Woman Weighing Gold, but closer evaluation has determined that the balance in her hand is empty. Opinions on the theme and symbolism of the painting differ, with the woman alternatively viewed as a symbol of holiness or earthiness.
In the painting, Vermeer has depict...
More
Woman Holding a Balance, also called Woman Testing a Balance, is an oil painting by Dutch Baroque artist Johannes Vermeer. At one time the painting, completed 1662-1663, was known as Woman Weighing Gold, but closer evaluation has determined that the balance in her hand is empty. Opinions on the theme and symbolism of the painting differ, with the woman alternatively viewed as a symbol of holiness or earthiness.
In the painting, Vermeer has depicted a young woman holding an empty balance before a table on which stands an open jewelry box, the pearls and gold within spilling over. A blue cloth rests in the left foreground, beneath a mirror, and a window to the left — unseen save its golden curtain — provides light. Behind the woman is a painting of the Last Judgment featuring Christ with raised, outstretched hands. The woman may have been modeled on Vermeer's wife, Catharina Vermeer.
According to Robert Huerta in Vermeer and Plato: Painting the Ideal (2005), the image has been variously...
Less
