At , the work is the smallest of Vermeer's paintings, seen by one author as one of his most abstract and unusual. The
canvas used was cut from the same bolt as that used for
A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals, and both paintings seem to have had identical dimensions originally. The girl is set against a blank wall, probably because the artist sought to eliminate any external distractions from the central image. As with his
The Astronomer (1668) and
The Geographer (1669), it is likely that the artist undertook careful study before he executed the work; the art of
lacemaking is portrayed closely and accurately. Some believe Vermeer may have used a
camera obscura while composing the work: many optical effects typical of projection can be seen, in particular the blurring of the foreground. but common in his interior works starting as early as 1657 in "Girl Reading a Letter by an Open Window". In
The Lacemaker, the red and white of the lace is shown as spilling from the sewing cushion in a near liquid form, The painting is often compared to a 1662 canvas by the Dutch portrait and genre painter
Caspar Netscher, which is similarly contemplative in tone. ==Legacy==