 A chair with a blue cloth on it is immediately beneath and behind the tapestry and to the left of the snake and cornerstone.Vermeer's iconography in the painting is largely taken from Cesare Ripa's "Iconologia", an emblem book (a collection of allegorical illustrations with accompanying morals or poems on a moral theme) which had been translated into Dutch in 1644 by D. P. Pers.The artist used various symbols that Ripa described and illustrated in his book, along with symbols taken from other books and traditions.