Above all, Vermeer was a painter of light. In his study of optics he undoubtedly used a camera obscure, or darkened chamber, the ancestor of the modern photographic camera. This scientific device employed an adjustable lens and mirrors to capture reflected light and project the scene onto a viewing screen in its lid.

In this picture, a young woman is fashionably dressed in the ermine-trimmed yellow jacket. She is writing, and has looked up from her work with a questioning glance; again, Vermeer has caught the perfect balance between a quiet, still environment, and the movement of individuals within it.

The darkness in the background emphasizes the brilliant, delicious yellow satin of the jacket, and the sheen of the pearls in the woman''''s earrings and on the table. Her face is perfectly framed by the ermine, the pearls, and by hair-ribbons.

Precise white highlights glisten from the writing box, pearl earrings, satin hair ribbons, and the chairs brass tacksall of which lie equally in the middle distance. The near tablecloth is purposely blurred, and the painting on the far wall is hazy. This is just as they would look to someone concentrating specifically on the woman. Because she directly faces the viewer with an open gaze, the oil painting may be a portrait.