Vermeer at Palazzo Barberini. Woman in Blue Reading a Letter

The Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica are continuing their collaboration with some of the world’s most prestigious museums. Thanks to an extraordinary loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, a masterpiece of 17th-century Dutch and European painting is on display to the public in the Sala Paesaggi at Palazzo Barberini.

Painted around 1663-1664, “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter” is among Vermeer’s most celebrated works. The paintings depicts a young woman reading a letter in a quiet domestic setting, illuminated by light streaming through a window. The theme leaves room for the viewer’s imagination, transforming an everyday scene into an image of extraordinary intensity and deep introspection, achieved through the balance of the composition and the quality of the light.

Curated by Thomas Clement Salomon and Paola Nicita, the project offers a rare opportunity to explore the work of an artist whose known oeuvre comprises little more than thirty authenticated paintings, none of which is held in an Italian collection. The painting will be displayed in a dedicated space designed to encourage close viewing. Dedicated digital content will guide visitors through Vermeer’s artistic practice, the history of the painting, and the cultural context of seventeenth-century Delft.