Collection/1600s

Study of a Young Woman by Johannes Vermeer

A young woman in a gold-colored wrap turns toward us over her shoulder, with a smooth, wide face and a quiet smile. Like Girl with a Pearl Earring, it is a tronie: a study of a face rather than a portrait of someone specific.

Vermeer painted it around 1665–67. Look at the pearl earring here too, catching a single point of light.