Young Woman in the Morning

1659-60
Oil on panel, 52 x 40 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

by Frans van, the Elder Mieris
(b. 1635, Leiden, d. 1681, Leiden)

The solution to the intrigue suggested by the maid's curious gaze may lie in the objects on the table: an unsealed letter and the intertwined blue and red ribbons point to the emotional anxieties of the heroine, who is looking for confirmation of her beloved's faithfulness.

The painter depicted the same woman in the "Brothel Scene" of the Mautitshuis, The Hague.