Woman with a Water Jug, also known as Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, is a painting finished between 1660–1662 by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer in the Baroque style. It is oil on canvas, 45.7cm x 40.6 cm, and is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

This canvas of about 1662, one of Vermeer's most beautiful works, was the first painting by Vermeer to enter an American public collection. The MMA canvas is one of a small group of canvases dating from about 1662–65 in which isolated women appear as mistresses of their private domains. Among other pictures of this type may be included the "Woman in Blue Reading a Letter" (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), "Woman with a Pearl Necklace" (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin), "Woman with a Balance," and perhaps "A Lady Writing" (both National Gallery of Art, Washington). The Amsterdam painting shares particular compositional similarities with the MMA work.

Technical analysis reveals that a larger map than the one now visible originally extended to the left behind the woman, so that her head was framed within the wall hanging's lower left corner. In addition, the back of a chair set on an angle was placed in the left foreground and partly overlapped the window. The chair, the use of an open window as a spatial device, and the bright, local coloring are consistent with Vermeer's style in works dating from about 1658/59–62.

Young Woman with a Water Pitcher portrays an intimate moment in the household and it is an ideal image of domesticity in 17th century Dutch society. This is reaffirmed by the woman's headdress known as a 'hoofdoek' which was worn to protect the head in cold weather, to protect the hairstyle before public events and was also worn during a morning toilette. This well-preserved picture of the early to mid-1660s is characteristic of Vermeer's mature style. Notwithstanding his remarkable interest in optical effects, the artist achieved a quiet balance of primary colors and simple shapes through subtle calculation and some revision during the execution of the work. The composition suits the theme of domestic tranquility, underscored by the basin and pitcher, traditional symbols of purity. This canvas was the first of thirteen paintings by Vermeer to enter the United States between 1887 and 1919.

What are we looking at? An ordinary woman alone in a room. She is plainly dressed in a white cap and shoulder covering . There is no evidence she is a servant; she is likely the middle class mistress of the house. Her right hand is on the leaded pane window and her left hand is on a water pitcher. Perhaps she is opening the window just before pouring a glass of water. Perhaps she is waiting for someone. No matter, she is obviously accustomed to performing household chores. The scene is a snapshot of ordinary motion.

What makes her appealing to us is her sense of self, her self-possession. She is not a symbol of beauty or womanhood; she is not Venus or Persephone, or the Virgin Mary. She is an individual with rights and private thoughts in a humanist world. Her's is a clean, well-ordered space. The window light conveys peace and tranquility in the external world, which is reflected in her inner calm. The light is welcoming. It draws us into the painting, even as she permits us into her world, allowing us to observe her.

Aesthetic Realism shows that the questions of marriage are aesthetic questions, answered in art. As we look at Jan Vermeer's Young Woman with a Water Jug we will be showing how, through this principle of Aesthetic Realism, stated by Eli Siegel: "All beauty is a making one of opposites, and the making one of opposites is what we are going after in ourselves."