Johannes Vermeer is one of the most famous Dutch painters of the 17th century. He is famous for his intimate household scenes with amazing light. In other paintings by Vermeer, such as the famous Girl with a Pearl Earring and View of Delft, he managed to create a calm, almost timeless atmosphere.

Not a single one of Vermeer's women have names attached to them. He depicted one particularly handsome women four times and critics believe she may have been his wife, Catharina, as she appears to be pregnant in two paintings.

The first children who apparently lived into adulthood were all girls: Maria, Elisabeth, Cornelia, Aleydis, and Beatrix. With an eventual eleven living children, Vermeer may well have pondered how to divide his energies; his slow production of paintings meant he completed only some three pictures for every child.