A Pronunciation Guide to Dutch Names and Terms concerning Johannes Vermeer and 17th-century Netherlands

Vermeer and his Family

Vermeer's clients and Patrons

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Nicolaes van Assendelf............Delft regent assembled a large collection of paintings
Willem van Berckel..................early 18th-century art collector
Hendrick van Buyten................rich Delft baker who purchsed some paintings by Vermeer
Jacob Dissius..........................printer and bookseller, inherits Pieter van Ruijven's collection of 21 Vermeer's
Maria de Knuijt........................Van Ruijven's wife, independently rich

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Cornelis de Helt.........................owned four houses, one at the prestigious west side of Oude Delft
Johannes Renialme...................rich art collector
Pieter Claesz. van Ruijven..........Vermeer's principal patron, may have acquired 20 or 21 of Vermeer's works
Herman van Swoll......................an Amsterdam banker who purchased a picture from Vermeer with a musical theme

Painters of Vermeer's Milieu

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Willem van Aelst......................still-life painter of Delft
Gerrit Dou................................immensely popular Dutch fijnschilder (fine painter)
Carel Fabritius..........................Rembrandt's most talented pupil, lived briefly in Delft, thought to have been Vermeer's master
Pieter de Hooch........................painter of Delft interiors, influenced Vermeer
Nicolaes Maes..........................one of Rembrandt's pupils, famed for his works of intimate life of women and children

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Gabriel Metsu...........................eccclectic genre painter who works in various styles, also studied with Dou
Frans van Mieris.......................Leiden fijnschilder (fine painter) whose compositions influenced Vermeer's
Gerrit ter Borch.........................painter of refined interiors who once met Vermeer in Delft, widely imitated
Emanuel de Witte.....................painter of Delft church interiors

Other Painters

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Dirck van Baburen.....................leading member of the Utrecht school, one of his works appears twice in Vermeer's works
Leonaert Bramer........................Delft genre and history painter who knew Vermeer personally
Abraham Bloemaert...................influential painter of the Utrecht school, relative of Maria Thin, Vermeer's mother-in-law
Cesar van Everdingen.................his work represent a high point in Dutch Classicism
Gerrit van Honthorst...................leading member of the Utrecht school influenced by the Italian painter Caravaggio

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Samuel van Hoogstraten ...........Dutch painter and art theorist
Caspar Netscher.......................trained with Ter Borch, predilection for depicting costly materials, particularly satin
Anthonie Palamedesz................portrait and genre painter, active mainly in his native Delft
Hendrick ter Brugghen...............one of the earliest and finest exponents of Caravaggism in northern Europe

Men of Culture and Science

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Pieter Teding van Berckhout......connoisseur who visited Vermeer's studio
Dirck van Bleywijck..................prints The Description of Delft, Vermeer's name was mentioned in a poem by Arnold Bon
Hugo de Groot (Grotius) ...........Dutch legal scholar, playwright, poet and natural law philosopher
Christiaan Huygens..................Dutch astronomer, mathematician, and physicist

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Constantijn Huygens................Dutch poet and diplomat
J.P. Sweelink..........................Dutch Baroque Composer
Joost van den Vondel...............Dutch playwrite and poet, renowned for his satires

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Simon Stevin..........................Prince Maurits' personal engineer, built sailing cart
Jan Adiriaensz Leeghwater.......land reclamation engineer
Goropianus............................"Dutch was the mother of all languages, Adam and Eve spoke Dutch in Paradise"

dUTCH Cities and Towns

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Amsterdam
Delft
Den Haag
Dordt (Dordrecht)
Leiden

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Haarlem
Utrecht
Rotterdam
Schipluiden

Men of History and State

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Willem van Oranje = Willem de Zwijger
Maurits
Frederik Hendrik 'de Stedendwinger'

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Johan van Oldenbarnevelt
Jacob 'Vadertje' Cats
Johan de Witt

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Willem Barentsz.
Piet Hein
Michiel de Ruyter "Bestevaer"

Delft

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De Oostpoort
De Oude Langendijk
De Vliegende Vos
Mechelen*

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Oude Kerk
Nieuwe Kerk
Donderslag

Various terms

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doorkijkje........................."see-through doorway": Vermeer painted two such works, the "Love Letter" and the" Maid Asleep"
fijnschilders......................painters who worked in minutely proportioned subjects with bright colors, a shiny finish, and precise attention to detail, such as Frans van Mieris and Gerrit Dou
gulden (guilder).................600 guilders was the average yearly earnings of a Dutch craftsman or the price of a very small house

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stuijver (5¢ 'nickel')
'Het Straatje' ...................the Dutch title for Vermeer's "Little Street"
tronie..............................bust-length figure in which the artist explored expression or technique rather than likeness of the sitter

Piet Hein

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There is a well-known song about admiral (and pirate) Piet Hein (also spelled Heyn) and his 1628 capture of the Spanish silver fleet; the song may well be recent, but it could also be something that the people in Vermeer's paintings were familiar with.

The stockholders of the West India Company made something like 50 to 75% on their investment in the year of the Silver Fleet (sources differ on the amount). It is not difficult to imagine the young Vermeer singing this little tune while playing in the streets of Delft.

* "Mechelen"' is the Dutch name of a Belgian town famous for some fabric technique, "Malines" in French, "Mechlin" in English

Piet Hein, Piet Hein Piet Hein zijn naam is klein,
Zijn daden benne groot,
Zijn daden benne groot,
Hij heeft gewonnen de Zilvervloot.|
Hij heeft gewonnen, gewonnen de Zilvervloot,
Hij heeft gewonnen de Zilvervloot.

(Piet Hein, Piet Hein,
Piet Hein is his name,
his name is short
His actions ("deeds") are big ("benne" is a slang term of "to be" [note the similarity])
His actions ('deeds') are big
He has captured ('won') the Silver Fleet
He has captured ('won') the Silver Fleet
He has captured ('won') the Silver Fleet)

Painting terms (modern)

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schilder (a painter)
schilderen (to paint)
schilderij (a painting)

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verf (paint)
penseel (small paintbrush)
kwast (average paintbrush)
kleur (color)
ezel (easel)

Notes to Jargon:
The German root for the painting is "schild," meaning "shield" and derives from the Germanic custom of painting warriors' shields.
The Dutch word for 'paint' is 'verf,' from the same root as the German word 'Farbe,' which means 'color.'
The English word 'easel' derives from the Dutch word 'ezel' ( also means 'donkey').