 The mistress has a pensive gaze, with her lips parted ever so slightly and her fingertips lifted to her chin in a questioning manner.The mistress' profile is slightly blurred and undefined and is meant to portray an idea that the woman is soft and sweet like another of Vermeer's paintings, "Girl with a Pearl Earring".The painting is preserved well and it has stylistic features such as the large scale of the figures, the dark background, and the dramatic modeling within the scene.