1-154-059 - Art Media/Heritage Images

'The Procuress', 1656. It has been suggested that the smiling man on the left holding a lute and a glass is a self-portrait. If so, it is the only time Vermeer allows us to approach him on such intimate terms. But the identification remains speculative; no visual or documentary evidence corroborates it. From the collection of the Gemäldegalerie, Dresde, Germany.