Art Reproductions Soldier and a Laughing Girl, 1658 by Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675, Netherlands) | WahooArt.com

Johannes Vermeer (i) - Oil On Canvas (i) - 1658 - (Frick Collection (United States)) (i) Officer and Laughing Girl, also known as Officer and a Laughing Girl and Officer With a Laughing Girl, is a painting created by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer in about 1657 and now in The Frick Collection in New York. The theme of a girl entertaining her suitor, already popular in Dutch art, was used by Vermeer as a study of light-filled space. The dark silhouette of the officer (considerably darker in The Frick Collection's website image) helps give the painting an illusion of depth, and contrasts with the play of light on the woman and the room's furnishings. The map of Holland on the far wall, showing the west at the top, was first published in 1621, and it, along with the chairs, appear in other Vermeer paintings.