Beyond the Concept of Genre Painting: Johannes Vermeer and Woman Holding a Balance

Abstract

Though leaving not so many artworks, the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer has always been known as one of the leading figures of Renaissance art in northern Europe in the seventeenth century. Many of his works are praised for the careful depiction of the daily scenes of the Dutch people, and as a result, being categorized as genre paintings. However, this general comment of reflection of the reality for Vermeer's works has been considered incomplete. The paper focuses on Vermeers masterpiece Woman Holding a Balance, and the main purpose of this paper is to trace Vermeers inner thoughts that he applied in his painting, based on his careful use of underpainting, color, and perspective. The result lies in visual analysis and contextualization of the painting, and it reveals the fact that Vermeer not only wants to present reality but also his artistic invention to form a distant inner world of the painting, with the sense of reverence and privacy of the daily scenes.