The Milkmaid (Vermeer) van Leyden's engraving "The Milkmaid" (1510) and Jacques de Gheyn II's engraving "The Archer and the Milkmaid" (about 1610). Vermeer's painting is even more understated, although the use of symbols remains: one of the Delft tiles at the foot of the wall behind the maid, near the foot warmer, depicts Cupid – which can imply arousal of a woman or simply that while she is working she is daydreaming about a man. Other amorous symbols in the painting include a wide-mouthed jug, often used as a symbol of the female anatomy. The foot warmer was often used by artists as
The Lacemaker (Maes) in turn sold it on for $27,500 to Michael Friedsam. Friedsam bequeathed it to the museum in 1931. The Lacemaker (Maes) The Lacemaker (circa 1656) 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 Metropolitan Museum of Art. This painting is typical of many paintings of women in interiors painted by Maes in the 1650s. The woman is making bobbin lace using a lace pillow that can be seen in other Maes paintings of lacemakers: The child in a highchair