Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance

Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, 1664, oil on canvas, 42.5 cm × 38 cm / 16.7 in × 15 in (National Gallery of Art)
Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.

[@nikkinikkinikki98]

YOU GUYS HELP ME SO MUCH WITH MY ART HISTORY CLASS! You seem to have a video for every painting I need help with lol THANK YOU!!

[@paillette2010]

I saw this in 1993 and it still resonates. I always thought she was pregnant and part of the self awareness via the mirror was that she is contemplating the very real possibility of death in childbirth and the riches lain before her can be neither passage to heaven nor guarantee of a certain future. I think since corseting was pretty apparent in other work, it seems more than just the Arnolfini-esque style, but a factor. Jan Vermeer had a decent size family and the leading cause for death in women was childbirth. I think she is more than a wealthy woman (the gold pearls are very expensive) but a woman contemplating her spiritual life in the metaphor of weighing jewelry.

[@opera93]

Thanks, interesting…… see mine.. / thoughts/ remarks. And, what gave you that idea(s)….?

[@jordangroff8978]

I just got to see this painting in person, its amazing.

[@seven1384]

You both are brilliant. I love your insight. Awesome content! 👏 Dr. Harris' voice is so pleasant and it pairs so well with Dr. Zuckers. Fantastic duo

[@chrisb8205]

To me, this painting encourages the viewer to practice self-reflection and contemplation, for a person's actions may one day be judged. I believe she is being tempted by worldly things, but the steadiness of her hand signifies that she intends to live a balanced life.

[@christianfrommuslim]

LESSONS from PEARLS: Once a university student from Kuwait brought me a pearl after her return from the Middle East. Yet surprisingly, she did not know how pearls were made. I shared with her how constant irritation such a beautiful thing, and how difficulties in our lives can do the same. An even more meaningful story is of "the pearl of great price," one of the fascinating parables which won Jesus such popularity. In it a pearl, like those in this Vermeer, is found by a merchant. To get it he sells everything that he has. There are two interpretations to the parable: One is that when we see the beauty of living in tune with God and people, we would exchange everything we have to be part of it. The other is that God loves us so much, we are like a pearl that he gives his best to save. He came to earth to be with and suffer with us. He died for our wrongs, and his resurrection gives us hope of eternal life - the best gift of all!

[@dougkelley2781]

This is my very favorite painting from my favorite artist. I first saw it many years ago, and then again at the National Gallery during the astonishing Vermeer exhibition. It, with two other small Vermeers, is in a tiny cabinet of a room just off the huge gallery hung with massive El Grecos. That hall echoes and is a hubbub of voices even when only a small number of people are in it. The room with the Vermeers is dimly lit with spots on the paintings, and exudes a religious quality that immediately silences people when they enter. Even those with no familiarity with these paintings are struck by their astonishing quality. I find all interpretations of this painting to be interesting and of some merit. Having painted a copy of it myself, I can say that one becomes entranced by this scene in a way that is profoundly spiritual. Stillness envelopes you, and the figure seems to emanate light from within. Hours go by as you work without any notice of time, and when you finally step back to measure your progress, it is like coming out of a trance.

[@opera93]

Thanks, see my . What lead you to this / these ideas?

[@AMorgan57]

I see that too. To me, she is at a critical point in life, calling for self-reflection and contemplation about the future of her family. The balance is a fine one. The composition is divided by two large Xs. The major one is centered on the scale in her hand. The smaller one on the scale in her mind.

[@alfredoechevarrieta7512]

Millón de gracias Smarthistory.

[@MilesBellas]

Nothing on the balance : this is why Vermeer is so enigmatic : there is an ethereal silence.

[@dereklang3335]

This is ammaazzing!

[@claymarzobestgoofy]

your channel is the best.

[@metatechnologist]

The thing that comes to my mind is Proverbs 16:11 "Honest balances and scales are the LORD's; all the weights in the bag are His concern." This is a relatively common refrain - the idea of fair measurement. She may be having a moment of temptation here. I enjoyed the narration to this.

[@lukerobin7482]

metatech I already cracked the painting. I have documented proof before you!

[@maheshgavaskar8093]

By juxtaposing the religious and the material appears to be one way by which Vermeer draws attention to the ongoing transition in 17c Holland, it's past and it's present- the transition in the very act of judgement...

[@Anna-tj7mp]

How very beautiful. I have seen 'the view over Delft' I think it is called, perhaps the loveliest painting in the world. The water! In the Hague... Also 'the girl with the pearl earring.'. But not this.

[@SamuelCummins-sn8cw]

What if the balance is a symbol for the last judgement depicted in the painting in back

The context is also very imporant to try to interpret this piece : if the merchant familly ordered the frame, why would they want that the composition reflect the lack of "spirituality" and the vanity of the subject ?

[@Safire1412]

i just cried

[@DaEnforcer24]

Very interesting, as usual.

[@Sasha0927]

It's not every day I hear a painting described as "quiet." It is just because of the setting she's in (enclosed, just her)? Her contemplative and calm expression? Perhaps both. 😅 I'm sure Vermeer would be pleased to know the ongoing discussions about his works. Things escalated very quickly when the last judgment entered the analysis. You wouldn't expect such a simple scene to have such complex and powerful implications that way. I like the hypothesis about balancing the spiritual and material - it seems to fit. But what makes us think that last judgment scene is based on another work? Couldn't it be an original within an original piece? So many questions, lol. Vermeer's a tricky one. 🙃

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Just to add to your list, the soft light also adds to the sense of stillness and quiet as does the stillness required of her hand as she steadies the balance.

[@Sasha0927]

@@smarthistory-art-history Very true. There's definitely a sense of quiet contemplation and intimacy looking at this.

[@lonemapper]

Considered a masterpiece, and I agree. However, if it were painted today would be considered "mere illustration".

[@alfredoechevarrieta7512]

Magnífica exposición. Tal vez la zona de la parte inferior de la obra hubiese sido interesante desde el aspecto compositivo.

[@L-mo]

The day of judgment and the scales… hmm 🤔 what could be the connection?

[@herald9]

she also resembles the virgin marry

[@frmrchristian8488]

Ditto! That was also my first thought! She does indeed appear to be pregnant.

[@kathycascone7560]

I was wondering if she's pregnant?

[@yomogiwitch]

YES. E TOO!

[@b.jr.7816]

No, it was just the fashion of the time to wear bulky dresses like that. Such as in the Arnolfini Portrait

[@pn4960]

she is clearly pregnant

[@paulh6724]

I don’t understand in the analysis that this is never commented. What path for my child contemplated in the radiance of pregnancy?

[@unrealnews]

She appears to be pregnant. If she is, the judgment that hangs in the balance is that of what she considers most valuable. The way she comports herself toward the future will determine much for the child. The painting would then operate as a perennial reminder to realign oneself so that godly concerns hold primacy over material concerns. Even if she is not pregnant, the suggestion operates as a stand in for the consideration of the passage of time, thus performing the same function for a woman or man viewing the painting. I like to consider how her head in front of the painting of the judgment is a clever way to tell us what is happening in her head - a kind of judgment. On the opposite side, we have the light of God illuminating everything and just in front of that the mirror. In a funny way, this echoes the overlapping layers of the right side. The mirror then represents the choice to love oneself above all others and in so doing grasping at mere illusion (material “wealth”), the light of God represents the illuminating reality permeating everything, and thus appearing invisible (true wealth). The mirror is to her left, the damned are to Christ’s left - our right. The light of God is on her right, the mirror is on her left. Now, stay with me. If she is meant to be making a judgment regarding the future, and the judgment to be made is between material riches and the light of God. When she looks up into the mirror, everything will be reversed, will it not? Who or what is standing behind her (the future of the painting, since we read left to right)? Who or what is directly outside of the window (the past of the painting, since we read left to right)? What does this imply about the nature of her particular choice? What does this imply about the nature of judgment?

[@JohnM.Powers]

Well done the formal analysis of Vermeer's painting. However, the iconographic meaning is crucial for a fuller understanding of this painting. Smarthistory should have explained this better.

[@MissRayuu]

Is it just me who thinks she looks like the virgin Mary a little bit?

[@yomogiwitch]

I also thought she is pregant and that the whole question of the future as in an oracle or something was somehow represented

[@adamwitmer3149]

The hood looks strikingly like the virgin's in Michelangelo's Pieta. Connection?

[@Smallpotato1965]

Vermeer was a converted Catholic in a Protestant nation. I would say that this painting was as close as he could be to painting a madonna...

[@kurd55]

She looks pregnant to me. But I know nothing about the styles of that day.

[@DeerHunter308]

Obviously Pregnant

[@porokothenoshow]

Was anyone sent here because of their teacher?

[@porokothenoshow]

I also wanna say that i enjoy some of these videos to an extent, even though I have never really been interested in the subject of Art History.

[@aleksandarcucukovic9710]

Front of her dress looks like she is pregnant. Maybe that also have something to do with the scales.

[@dhrbakker8032]

She is not pregnant, I think, this was high fashion in 17 ch Holland

[@winkprince1875]

The woman is obviously pregnant. I am surprised that this wasn’t mentioned.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

She may not actually be pregnant. For more on this issue, see our brief essay on another though earlier Northern painting: smarthistory.org/arnolfini-pregnancy/

[@onefeather2]

She looks like she is going to have a baby. Also a balance of Spiritual and material.

[@jeffreyslott3883]

Obviously, I could be misreading this, but on the woman's left side of her white head-dress, it looks like a shadow.of a hand. It certainly does not conform to the shape of her head.

[@alexanderweiser8801]

Why does her head appear to be bald