Historical Figures Codexery

Johannes Vermeer

The Sphinx of Delft: Master of Light and Domestic Interiors

The 17th-century painter Jan Vermeer, a Baroque artist from Delft, focused on depicting everyday life in middle-class households through his domestic interior scenes.[1] According to art history sources, Vermeer ranks among the most highly regarded painters from the Dutch Golden Age.[2] While alive, Vermeer achieved only modest success as a genre painter, with his reputation limited primarily to Delft and The Hague.[2]

Quick Facts

Baptized
31 October 1632
Birthplace
Delft, Dutch Republic
Died
15 December 1675
Field
Painting
Spouse
Catharina Bolnes
Movement
Dutch Golden Age; Baroque

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

In April 1653, Vermeer married Catharina Bolnes, a Catholic woman, and likely converted to Catholicism before the marriage.[3][4] He became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke on 29 December 1653.[5] His wife gave birth to 15 children, of whom 10 are known by name from wills.[6] The modest celebrity he enjoyed during his life gave way to obscurity after his death.[7]

Vermeer's primary income came from dealing in artworks, as he created only a small number of paintings.[2] Ultramarine, an extremely costly pigment, was frequently applied by Vermeer, who painted with meticulous deliberation.[8][9] Upon Vermeer's death on December 15, 1675, his widow was burdened with significant debts.[2]

What the cited sources add

The Bulfinch Guide to Art History notes that Vermeer’s father was a silk weaver and an art dealer, which may have influenced his passion for painting.[1] The same source states that Vermeer’s paintings were rich with symbolic meaning and focused on natural light sources.[1] The Essential Vermeer account of Delft records that Vermeer received artistic training from about 1645 to 1653 with an unknown master.[10] The inventory of Vermeer’s house lists that the back room of the top floor was likely his studio, containing painter's equipment.[11]

The inventory also reveals that few luxury objects seen in his paintings were actually present in his home.[11] The Nederlandse Familienamenbank explains that the surname Vermeer originated from a contraction of "Van der Meer".[12]

References

  1. "Jan Vermeer", The Bulfinch Guide to Art History. facts only, no text reused. artchive.com
  2. Wikipedia, "Johannes Vermeer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Jan Vermeer", The Bulfinch Guide to Art History (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Johannes Vermeer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Vermeer and the Delft school: [catalogue ... in conjunction with the exhibition "Vermeer and the Delft School" held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from 8 March to 27 May 2001, and at The National Gallery, ; "Vermeer: The Complete Paintings", Taschen, 2000, p. 8, 13 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Johannes Vermeer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Vermeer: The Complete Paintings", Taschen, 2000, p. 8, 13; "Vermeer and the Delft school: [catalogue ... in conjunction with the exhibition "Vermeer and the Delft School" held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from 8 March to 27 May 2001, and at The National Gallery, ; "Johannes Vermeer: Allegory of the Catholic Faith (32.100.18)", The Met, 20 July 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Johannes Vermeer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Delft in Johannes Vermeer's Time", Essential Vermeer (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Johannes Vermeer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Montias 1991, p. 344–345; Montias 1991, p. 344–345 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Johannes Vermeer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Changing Status of the Artist", New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999, p. 199; "Complete Vermeer Catalogue & Tracker", Essential Vermeer (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Johannes Vermeer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "An Interview with Jørgen Wadum", Essential Vermeer, 5 February 2003; "The World of Vermeer", Time-Life Books, 1977 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Johannes Vermeer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Never to be repeated Vermeer exhibition stuns with scientific revelations", CNN; "Johannes Vermeer", Waanders Publishers, 1995 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. "Delft in Johannes Vermeer's Time", Essential Vermeer. facts only, no text reused. essentialvermeer.com
  11. "Inventory of movable goods in Vermeer's house in Delft", Essential Vermeer. facts only, no text reused. essentialvermeer.com
  12. "Vermeer", Nederlandse Familienamenbank. facts only, no text reused. cbgfamilienamen.nl

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Johannes Vermeer (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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