NGA | Vermeer | Woman Holding a Balance |Symbols and Meaning 7

LEFT: Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance (detail), c. 1664, National Gallery of Art, Widener Collection. CENTER: Annibale Carracci, Venus Adorned by the Graces (detail), 1590/1595, National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection. RIGHT: Georges de La Tour, The Repentant Magdalene (detail), c. 1640, National Gallery of Art, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund.

In Vermeer's painting, a frame on the wall contains a mirror. Mirrors in art often symbolize vanity or self-knowledge, as seen here in works by Annibale Carracci and Georges de La Tour.