Description
Woman Holding a Balance is a painting by Johannes Vermeer from around 1662–1663: a young woman in a blue jacket trimmed with white fur stands at a table by a window and lightly holds a small balance in her right hand, its pans empty, while an open jewellery box, pearls and gold lie on the table before her. Behind her on the wall hangs a painting of the Last Judgement. The original, oil on canvas, is 42.5 cm high and 38 cm wide and belongs to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Painted to order by our painter in oil on canvas, it comes in 8 portrait sizes from 43 x 47 to 172 x 200 cm or made to measure, and you receive a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
| Title: | Woman Holding a Balance |
| Other titles: | Vrouw met weegschaal · Die Perlenwägerin |
| Painter: | Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) |
| Year painted: | c. 1662–1663 |
| Original size: | 42.5 cm x 38 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, Dutch Golden Age |
| Located at: | National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Woman Holding a Balance – Johannes Vermeer
What does Woman Holding a Balance show?
The scene is small and still. A young woman stands in the corner of a room beside a table, her head slightly bowed, looking at the balance she holds between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand. Both pans hang quietly level, and neither holds anything.
She wears a blue jacket edged with white fur and a white cloth over her hair. Her left hand rests on the edge of the table. There an open jewellery box spills strings of pearls, gold glints beside it, and a crumpled blue cloth lies in the foreground.
Light falls from high on the left, through a window with a yellow curtain, and catches her face, her fingers and the pearls. A mirror hangs on the wall between the window and the woman, and behind her is a dark painting of the Last Judgement in a black frame.
What does the empty balance mean?
For a long time the work was known as Woman Weighing Gold. Close examination later showed that the pans are empty: she is weighing nothing, and seems only to be checking that the balance is true.
That is exactly why the painting stays open to interpretation. Many read the act of weighing in front of a Last Judgement as a thought about measure: between the earthly riches on the table and what really counts in the end.
Scholars disagree about whether she is expecting a child, and the canvas itself does not settle the question.
Religious subjects are rare in Vermeer. The best-known exception is his largest canvas, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary; here faith appears only in the picture on the wall.
Why do so many people love this painting?
Because almost nothing pulls the eye away. There is no story you need to know and no movement, only a hand holding a balance and light moving slowly across the table.
The Delft painter Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) left us only a few dozen canvases, most of them quiet scenes inside town houses.
Here everything leads to the slender balance at the centre, which you barely notice until you look for it.
For the history of the work and the many readings of it, see the Wikipedia article, which is in English.
Which museum holds the original?
The original belongs to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, in the United States. The canvas is 42.5 cm high and 38 cm wide: a small work, best looked at up close.
If a trip to Washington is not on the cards, you can still have the painting at home: we paint every order individually, with brush and oil paint.
Woman Holding a Balance or another Vermeer?
This is a painting for calm rooms: a bedroom, a study, a library or a hallway where you pause for a moment. Upright and dark-toned, it looks its best on a pale wall.
If you are drawn to a woman alone by a window, quietly busy with something small, a close relative is Woman in Blue Reading a Letter. If you prefer music and two figures in a bright room, look at The Music Lesson, and for a study the scholar bent over his map suits well: The Geographer.
We paint the other famous Vermeer paintings to order too, from quiet interiors to a town view, and you will find them all on the Johannes Vermeer page.
How does our painter paint your Woman Holding a Balance?
We start the painting only once you order it, and build it up in oil on canvas, layer by layer. First the painter lays in the dark background and the bright strip by the window, then the woman standing between them.
The small things ask for the most patience: the fine cords of the balance, which must stay visible without turning stiff, the points of light on the pearls and the soft fur on the jacket. In the blue cloth at the front he makes sure the fold stays deep and dark.
The result is a Vermeer reproduction whose brush marks you can see on the surface in the light from a window. A print stays flat, while an oil painting reproduction has body: the paint sits in layers and the dark passages keep their depth.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 43 x 47 or 50 x 55 cm above a bedside table, on a narrow wall or in a hallway, 68 x 75 or 75 x 85 cm above a chest of drawers or a desk, 97 x 106 or 120 x 140 cm above a sofa, and 140 x 150 or 172 x 200 cm for a tall, wide wall.
Woman Holding a Balance comes in 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 43 x 47, 50 x 55, 68 x 75, 75 x 85, 97 x 106, 120 x 140, 140 x 150 and 172 x 200 cm. The closest to the original is the smallest, 43 x 47 cm, which is 5 cm wider and 4.5 cm taller.
Because the original is small, even the middle sizes enlarge the scene a great deal, and that is when you notice how many small things lie on the table. As a painting for the living room above a sofa, 97 x 106 cm is a good choice; hang it so that the hand with the balance is roughly at eye level.
Can I have a different size or a frame?
Of course. The original is roughly 9 : 10 in proportion, so we can carry it over to a size that is not on the list with no trouble, and the balance stays exactly where it belongs. Send us the width and height you need, and we will reply with a price and a date.
We ship the painting rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or ready framed. Stretching and framing are done by our workshop in Slovenia, which prepares every canvas painting we send out in the same way. You pick the frame in our 3D application, which is meant only for choosing a frame; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
A slim frame in antique gold suits the dark background and the gold lights on the table, while smooth black wood goes with more modern furniture.
When will my painting arrive?
We begin right after your order, and in 15 to 45 working days the painting is ready to ship. Before it leaves, we send you a photograph of the finished painting, and if you would like something changed, we change it.
There are no customs charges within Slovenia or anywhere else in the EU, and our returns policy covers this order too.
Woman Holding a Balance is a thoughtful gift for someone who values calm and the quiet beauty of everyday moments. If the size should be their own choice, give them a wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original on view?
In the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, in the United States.
What is on the balance?
Nothing. The pans are empty, even though the painting was once called Woman Weighing Gold.
What hangs on the wall behind her?
A painting of the Last Judgement, which gives the scene a more serious note.
Is it a print?
No. Every one is a hand-painted copy, made by our painter with a brush in oil paint.
How big is the original?
It is 42.5 cm high and 38 cm wide; our smallest size, 43 x 47 cm, is a little larger.
Does it suit a bedroom?
Yes. The calm, rather dark painting sits well in a bedroom, ideally at 68 x 75 or 75 x 85 cm.
Can I order it in another size?
Yes, tell us the width and height and we will send you an offer with a price and a date.
How long will I wait for it?
From 15 to 45 working days; the photograph of the finished painting comes before dispatch.
- Subject: a young woman by a window holds an empty balance, with an open jewellery box, pearls and gold on the table and a Last Judgement behind her.
- Original: c. 1662–1663, oil on canvas, 42.5 x 38 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
- Ours: oil on canvas, painted by hand to your order, in 8 portrait sizes from 43 x 47 to 172 x 200 cm or in a size you choose.
- Worth knowing: the old title Woman Weighing Gold is wrong: the balance in her hand is empty.
