By: Jeroen van Dommel

Introduction

In the Middle Ages, trade became more important and the cities grew. The Netherlands became very rich in the 17th century (1600-1700), and that is why it is called the Golden Age. During this period, the Dutch did many great things in the fields of painting, literature and science.

About the painter

This project is about the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, who lived in this period. We do not know exactly when he was born, but we know that he was christened in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Delft on 31 October 1632. The pictures he painted in his lifetime became very famous. You can find them in museums all over the world. Many other Dutch painters have become world famous. They include Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen, Vincent van Gogh, Piet Mondrian, Karel Appel and Willem de Kooning.

In April or May 1653, Vermeer married Catharina Bolnes, who was probably quite rich. They went to live in a house on the Oude Langedijk in Delft and had 15 children! Four of them died very young. Johannes Vermeer was not only a painter but also an art dealer, like his father.

Johannes Vermeer painted only 45 pictures in his entire lifetime. That was very few for a painter in those days. When he died in 1675, he left eleven children. The family was poor. One of the reasons for that was the economic decline caused by Louis XIV.

After his death

For many years after his death, Vermeer’s works were underrated. This changed two hundred years later, when the French critic, W. Bürger (a pseudonym for Étienne-Jospeph Théophile Thoré, 1807-1869) wrote a book about him. He described Johannes Vermeer as an unknown, unrecognised genius, and called him the Sphinx of Delft. He gave him that name because so little is known about his life. Thanks to this book, people searched all over the Netherlands for paintings by Vermeer. It was mainly foreign politicians and businessmen who found them.

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is thought to have painted a total of only 45 pictures. Thirty five of them are still in existence.

Young Woman with a Water Pitcher (1662) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The street that Johannes Vermeer painted in 1658 is world famous, but unknown in Delft. No one knows which street it is, and whether it actually existed. But that doesn’t make the painting any less valuable. The street looks quiet and very homely. The painting is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.