A kitchen maid pours milk into a squat earthenware bowl, and somehow Vermeer turns this ordinary moment into one of the calmest pictures ever painted. The light comes in from the window at the left and lands on her yellow bodice, the bread, the rough wall behind her.

Look closely at the bread and the basket: Vermeer dotted them with tiny points of light-colored paint, a trick that makes the crust seem to glitter. Look at the wall, too. You can still see the nail holes and the stains he chose to paint in.