Johannes Vermeer

The life of Johannes Vermeer,
scene by scene

1. 1632Delft

   On 31 October 1632 a baby named Johannes was baptized in the New Church in Delft. His father, Reynier, had worked as a silk weaver, then ran an inn, and was also registered with the painters' guild as an art dealer. So the boy grew up among people buying and selling pictures. Who taught him to paint, no record tells us.

2. 1653Delft

   In April 1653, at twenty, Vermeer married Catharina Bolnes. She came from a Catholic family, and her mother, Maria Thins, was at first not happy about the match. An older Delft painter, Leonaert Bramer, stepped in to help the marriage go ahead. That December Vermeer was registered as a master in the Delft painters' guild.

3. 1656–57Delft

   The couple moved into Maria Thins's house, and children began to arrive. A Maid Asleep dates from about this time. A young woman rests her head on her hand, eyes closed. A thickly patterned carpet is rumpled across the table, with a white jug and a dish of fruit. Behind her a door stands half open onto another room. X-rays show that Vermeer first painted a dog in the doorway and a man in the room beyond. He painted both out and left the room empty.

   Painted around this timeA Maid Asleep
4. 1662Delft

   At thirty, Vermeer was chosen as one of the heads of the painters' guild, a post he would hold again later. Young Woman with a Water Pitcher comes from about this time. One hand opens the window, the other holds a pitcher standing in a silver basin. Her white headcloth picks up the window light and turns faintly blue. A map hangs on the wall, and on the table sit a red carpet and a small jewelry box.

   Painted around this timeYoung Woman with a Water Pitcher
5. 1663Delft

   A French traveler, Balthasar de Monconys, came to Delft and called on Vermeer. According to his diary, the painter had not a single picture at home to show him. Instead, at a baker's house, Monconys saw a painting with just one figure and wrote that the price was far too high. Vermeer worked slowly and finished few pictures.

6. 1665–67Delft

   In Study of a Young Woman, a girl turns to look at us over her shoulder. Broad forehead, wide eyes, the corners of her mouth just lifting. Pale blue cloth wraps her shoulders, and a long band of fabric falls from her head down her back. Nobody knows who she was. The picture is seen not as a portrait of a real sitter but as a study of a face and a costume.

   Painted around this timeStudy of a Young Woman
7. 1672The Hague

   In 1672 French armies invaded the Dutch Republic. People called it the Disaster Year, and buyers for paintings vanished almost overnight. That spring Vermeer was called to The Hague to judge a group of Italian paintings. He and another painter concluded that they were not the fine works they were claimed to be.

8. 1675Delft

   In December 1675 Vermeer died at forty-three. He left eleven children and heavy debts. Catharina later wrote that after the war he could sell nothing, sank into deep worry, and collapsed suddenly. The famous Delft microscope maker Antoni van Leeuwenhoek was appointed to settle the estate. Vermeer's name then faded for a long time, until critics rediscovered him in the nineteenth century.