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Secondary Axis In the Young Woman with a Water Pitcher (right) Vermeer places the figure of the young girl, who is the painting's principal subject, exactly along the central axis of the painting. This practice was usually avoided by artists, but Vermeer offsets the overly dominant centrality of the composition by creating a strong secondary vertical axis. This axis descends along the left hand border of the map and is reinforced as it runs directly through the center of the pitcher. It also helps to stabilize the girls leaning position. He used an almost identical scheme in The Woman in Blue (left) moving the secondary vertical axis to the left. |
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