Study of a Young Woman

Study of a Young Woman (also known as Portrait of a Young Woman or Girl with a Veil) is a painting by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, completed between 1665 and 1667, and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The painting was painted around the same time as the better-known Girl with a Pearl Earring and has a near-identical size. Because of this, and its proximity in tone and composition, it is sometimes considered to be either a variant or pendant painting (counterpart) of Girl with a Pearl Earring.

The subjects of both paintings wear pearl earrings, have scarves draped over their shoulders, and are shown in front of a plain black background. In addition, it has been suggested (though this has also been widely contested) that the creation of both works involved the use of some optical device, such as a camera obscura or mirror, as the Hockney–Falco thesis speculates.

Executed in Oil on canvas, measuring 17 1/2 x 15 3/4 in. (44.5 x 40 cm), the surface rewards close looking. Johannes Vermeer builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward.

Look closely and the painting opens up. Objects you might pass over — a folded letter, a half-drawn curtain, the angle of a glance — were placed to be read. The sitter is constructed: clothes, pose, and attributes were chosen to project status, virtue, and lineage.

Housed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the painting has passed through the hands of collectors, dealers, and institutions before reaching public view — a provenance that is itself part of the object's story.

“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”