[MUSIC PLAYING]
DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: There's nothing
subtle about 17th century Dutch genre painting.
So often, we're shown interactions
that are wonderfully bawdy and wonderfully explicit.
There is an exception, however.
Jan Vermeer's paintings often are riddles.
They give us suggestions of narratives.
DR. BETH HARRIS: And in this painting, it's true.
We're not really sure exactly what's about to unfold.
DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: What we're seeing
is a man who is still wearing his hat and outer cloak.
He stands beside a table with a beautiful carpet on it,
and he has his hand on a jug of wine.
He looks like he's ready to refill the young woman's glass.
She's got it up to her mouth, and she's just
finishing it off.
DR. BETH HARRIS: Well, and he looks
impatient to pour her another glass,
as though the goal of this whole interaction
is to get her drunk.
DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: But across from her at the window
that is ajar, we can actually see a rendering
in the stained glass of temperance,
of moderation, in a sense an instruction to her
to watch her step.
And so the painting is about possibility.
It's about her choice.
And the man whose face is shadowed by his hat
is a little bit sinister in that way.
DR. BETH HARRIS: There's a sense of distance between the two
figures, a sense that they're not
terribly familiar with one another.
And I almost wonder whether the wine
is going to make that happen.
DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: One of the reasons
that the flirtation doesn't have an opportunity
to be represented is because he's in shadow.
We can just barely make out his eyes.
And her eyes are completely obscured by the shine
in the beautifully delicate glass
that she holds in front of her face.
She can't speak now.
She's drinking.
And she can't even see beyond that glass,
or at least we can't see.
And yet that shine is all about vision,
and it's held right at her eyes.
This is an early Vermeer, but already we
can see his fascination with soft light.
Look at the way it infuses the space,
comes through that blue curtain.
And the delicacy that he's lavished
on the tonality of the back wall and the other forms
in this room is just spectacular.
DR. BETH HARRIS: So while Vermeer is interested in light,
we also have that characteristic geometry
in the composition, the square of the window that's open,
the rectangle of the frame on the back wall,
the square on the back of the chair,
and the squares that move back and the perspective
on the floor.
DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: There is this kind of checkerboard pattern
that does create a clear, structured interior.
And then we have objects that are placed askew of that.
So you've got the line that the window should trace.
But the window is open so that there's
a diagonal that interrupts it.
You've got the careful rectilinear tiles on the floor,
but then you've got the chair, again, that's at an angle
and is offset from it.
In some ways, this painting is about the disruption of order.
And the way objects are placed in this space
are about the tension that's created when things are not
aligned.
And perhaps that functions as a kind of metaphor
for the interaction between the two figures.
DR. BETH HARRIS: Or a kind of foreboding about what
may happen.
DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: There are ways
that the figures are linked.
Look at the concentric rings that fall from the man.
You have his collar.
Then you've got a series of folds in the drapery that
catch the light and sort of expand
as they move down towards his arm.
And that motion is picked up by the beautiful gold
brocade in the woman's dress and then the folds on her hip.
And so there really is a kind of harmony between those figures.
And in some ways, this painting is
about harmony and disharmony.
It's about alignment and things being askew.
DR. BETH HARRIS: And that's also symbolized
in the musical instrument, which is used in Vermeer's paintings
to suggest both harmony and frivolity.
So which way is this going to go?
DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: I'm not sure.
I think Vermeer is leaving that question open for the viewer.
DR. BETH HARRIS: By leaving this question open,
Vermeer creates an image that is really poetic.
[MUSIC PLAYING]