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Gabriel Mestu
1629-1667
A Girl Receiving a Letter
ca. 1658
Oil on panel
10-1/8 x 9-5/8 in.
Writing letters became fashionable in Europe in the seventeenth century after the establishment of a postal system. Gabriel Metsu's painting is part of a Dutch tradition of images dealing with the popular subject of the love letter. The young woman, seated in an arcade, receives a letter from a young messenger. Beyond the arcade is a classically styled Palladian villa that conveys elegance and wealth. This panel may be a companion to a similar panel by the artist, in another collection, showing a man writing a letter. Not only do the two panels complement one another in size and subject, but the young man and the young woman may be the artist and his wife. Early in his career, Metsu painted religious and mythological subjects. Today he is celebrated for his scenes of everyday middle-class life, which, as in this work, are rendered in exquisite detail.