Jan Vermeer biography

Synopsis

(baptized October 31, 1632, Delft, the Netherlands—buried December 16, 1675, Delft) Dutch artist who created paintings that are among the most beloved and revered images in the history of art. Although only about 36 of his paintings survive, these rare works are among the greatest treasures in the world's finest museums. Vermeer began his career in the early 1650s by painting large-scale biblical and mythological scenes, but most of his later paintings—the ones for which he is most famous—depict scenes of daily life in interior settings. These works are remarkable for their purity of light and form, qualities that convey a serene, timeless sense of dignity. Vermeer also painted cityscapes and allegorical scenes.

Early life

Delft, where Vermeer was born and spent his artistic career, was an active and prosperous place in the mid-17th century, its wealth based on its thriving Delftware factories, tapestry-weaving ateliers, and breweries. Within Delft's city walls were picturesque canals and a large market square, which was flanked by the imposing town hall and the soaring steeple of the Nieuwe Kerk (“New Church”). It was also a venerable city with a long and distinguished past. Delft's strong fortifications, city walls, and medieval gates had furnished defense for more than three centuries and, during the Dutch revolt against Spanish control, had provided refuge for William I, Prince of Orange, from 1572 until his death in 1584.

Vermeer was baptized in the Nieuwe Kerk. His father, Reynier Jansz, was a weaver who produced a fine satin fabric called caffa; he was also active as an art dealer. By 1641 the family was sufficiently prosperous to purchase a large house containing an inn, called the Mechelen, on the market square. Vermeer inherited both the inn and the art-dealing business upon his father's death in October 1652. By this time, however, Vermeer must have decided that he wanted to pursue a career as a painter.

In April 1653 Vermeer married Catherina Bolnes, a young Catholic woman from the so-called Papenhoek, or Papist's Corner, of Delft. This union led him to convert from the Protestant faith, in which he was raised, to Catholicism. Later in that decade, Vermeer and his wife moved into the house of the bride's mother, Maria Thins, who was a distant relative of the Utrecht painter Abraham Bloemaert.

Artistic training and early influences

Surprisingly little is known about Vermeer's decision to become a painter. He registered as a master painter in the Delft Guild of Saint Luke on December 29, 1653, but the identity of his master(s), the nature of his training, and the period of his apprenticeship remain a mystery.

Since Vermeer's name is not mentioned in Delft archival records during the late 1640s or early 1650s, it is possible that, as with many aspiring Dutch artists, he traveled to Italy, France, or Flanders. He also may have trained in some other artistic centre in the Netherlands, perhaps Utrecht or Amsterdam. In Utrecht Vermeer would have met artists who were immersed in the boldly expressive traditions of Caravaggio, among them Gerrit van Honthorst. In Amsterdam he would have encountered the impact of Rembrandt van Rijn, whose powerful chiaroscuro effects enhanced the psychological intensity of his paintings.

Stylistic characteristics of both pictorial traditions—the Utrecht school and that of Rembrandt—are found in Vermeer's early large-scale biblical and mythological paintings, such as Diana and Her Companions (1655–56) and Christ in the House of Mary and Martha ( 1655). The most striking assimilation of the two traditions is apparent in Vermeer's The Procuress (1656). The subject of this scene of mercenary love is derived