Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid at least a degree of intimacy between the two. The painting visits many of Vermeer's usual painterly motifs; in particular his obsession with the inside/outside axis of interior spaces, and through his description of the tiled floor as well as the verticals of the dresses, window frame and back wall painting, his interest in geometry and abstract form. Vermeer had experimented with this painterly device earlier in his career, notably in his "View of Delft", "The Lacemaker" and "The Art of Painting". "Lady Writing" was stolen on 27 April 1974, along with a Goya, two Gainsboroughs and three Rubens from
The Old Lacemaker The Old Lacemaker The Old Lacemaker (circa 1655) is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch painter Nicolaes Maes. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is part of the collection of the Mauritshuis. The painting shows a woman making bobbin lace and the lace pillow she is using is the same in all the paintings Maes made of lacemakers: This painting was documented by Hofstede de Groot in 1914, who wrote; "71. An Old Lace-Maker. Sm. Suppl. 7. An old woman with spectacles, facing the spectator, sits making lace. She wears a black jacket with