The Art of painting
(De Schilderkonst)
c. 1666- 1668
oil on canvas
47 1/4 x 39 3/8 in. (120 X 100 cm.)
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
A period chandelier in the Delft Stadhuis (Town Hall)
Nowhere in Vermeer's oeuvre has iconographic interpretation proved so complicated as in the Art of Painting. Experts generally believe that the glittering golden chandelier surmounted by a double-headed eagle, imperial symbol of the Habsburgs, refers to an earlier era when that dynasty ruled the Netherlands. The fact would bring it into relation with the vertical crease in the map (made before the wars and Treaty of 1648) which accentuates the divisions between the Spanish South and the United Provinces of the independent North.
One critic has suggested that the eagle may have been an allegorical symbol of sight, one of the five senses meant to strengthen the focus of the painter's activity. It has also been seen as an image of the phoenix, a symbol of a resurrected and reunited Netherlands.
Whatever its iconographical meaning, it is hard to imagine that Vermeer,perhaps the most "optical" artist of the Netherlands, was not attracted by the formidable technical challenge it posed to his eyes and craft. The highlights are painted with astonishingly thick opaque blobs of light-toned paint that seems to dance above the surface of the painting imitating the shimmer of sunlight.
Prof. J Fock, a Dutch historian, has noted that such chandeliers permitted artists to demonstrate their expertise at rendering shimmering and refractive brass under changing light conditions. However, multibranch chandeliers were rarely found even in the houses of the wealthiest burghers (which had one at most), and in the very few inventories where chandeliers are listed they are called kerkkroon (church chandeliers), because examples of this type were more often hung in churches or civic buildings than in houses.
Vermeer's fellow painter Gerard ter Borch utilized a same chandelier as a prop for his interiors over and over again in his compositions even though he never dedicated such attention to it as Vermeer.
Woman at the Clavichord
Gerrit Dou
c. 1665
37.7 x 29.8 cm
The Trustees of
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
From a visual point of view, the drawn-back tapestry functions as a repoussoir. Repoussoir is a means of achieving perspective or spatial contrasts by the use of illusionistic devices such as the placement of a large figure or object in the immediate foreground. By covering only small portions of the map, the trumpet and still life, Vermeer entices the observer to pull it back all the way thereby involving him not only visually, but physically in the painting's illusion. The pervasive illusionism in the Art of Painting is based on a firm understanding of perspective, awareness of optical laws and longstanding cultural significance.
Vermeer may have had in mind the famous contest of Greek antiquity held between two renowned painters Parrhasius and Zeuxis to see who was the finest. This story was cited by Plinius the Elder from a Greek source in his Naturalis historia, 77 A.C. Zeuxis had produced a still life so convincing that birds flew down from the sky to peck at the painted grapes. Parrhasius then asked Zeuxis to pull aside the curtain from his painting. When it was discovered that the curtain was a painted one and not a real one, Zeuxis was forced to concede defeat, for while his work had managed to fool the eyes of birds, Parrhasius had deceived the eyes of a human beings.
A popular story goes that Rembrandt's students had once painted coins on the floor of his studio for the pleasure of watching him bend down and try to pick them up.
Dutch painters working around the same themes as Vermeer had pioneered and perfected the curtain devise years before him. Gerrit Dou, the renowned fijnschilder included such curtains in a few of his more ambitious compositions (see above).
Willem Weve, a Delft architectural historian, notes that although domestic construction was not standardized in the city in the mid-17th century, the type of ceiling shown in this painting is one among several arrangements used in houses, and surviving examples can indeed be found. The timber members are small beams, probably of pine, supported by a wall plate over the windows, as seen at top left in The Music Lesson. It is likely that the beams were supported at their other ends on a wall which would be on the right of Vermeer's pictures, but is always out of sight. The ceiling beams in Vermeer's Music Lesson, Allegory of Painting and Allegory of the Faith can be seen to slope downwards from left to right. The fact that they slant in all three cases suggests the possibility that this is a physical property of the room and not an inaccuracy in Vermeer' drawing.
Various painters represented this same map of the Netherlands in their compositions. However, the two lateral strips of town views we see in the Art of Painting are not present in their works. The city views and title scripts were each printed separately and then glued together as were the nine separate sections which compose the body of the map. The city views may be linked to the notion that a successful painter bestows fame and glory on the cities were he was born, a concept greatly appreciated in Vermeer's time.
Vermeer's hometown, Delft, is not represented. It is curious that Vermeer, who was at the height of his powers, was mentioned only briefly in Beschryvinge der Stadt Delft (Description of the City of Delft) published in 1667 by Dirck van Bleyswick while other painters, now considered far less important, receive great praise. Ironically, Van Bleyswick also lamented that at times the fame due to great artists comes only after their death. Located precisely to the left of the standing Clio is a view of the Hof in The Hague (see image above), seat of the government of the Seventeen Provinces.
Various painters represented this same map of the Netherlands in their compositions. However, the two lateral strips of town views we see in the Art of Painting are not present in their works. The city views and title scripts were each printed separately and then glued together as were the nine separate sections which compose the body of the map. The city views may be linked to the notion that a successful painter bestows fame and glory on the cities were he was born, a concept greatly appreciated in Vermeer's time.
Vermeer's hometown, Delft, is not represented. It is curious that Vermeer, who was at the height of his powers, was mentioned only briefly in Beschryvinge der Stadt Delft (Description of the City of Delft) published in 1667 by Dirck van Bleyswick while other painters, now considered far less important, receive great praise. Ironically, Van Bleyswick also lamented that at times the fame due to great artists comes only after their death. Located precisely to the left of the standing Clio is a view of the Hof in The Hague (see image above), seat of the government of the Seventeen Provinces.
The female figure on the top of the cartouche symbolizes the "unity and separation" of the Seventeen Northern and Southern Provinces. She is holding the coat of arms of the North and South in her left and right hands respectively.
A number of unused chairs populate Vermeer's interiors. Some critics have supposed that their emptiness alludes to someone missing from the scene. In this picture, it seems to have a function as a repoussoir device to augment the illusion of depth.
The two red velvet, fringed chairs in this painting seem identical to the one in the foreground of Vermeer's Woman with a Pearl Necklace. Walter Liedtke has supposed that the foreground chair in the Art of Painting may have been provided for a hypothetical connoisseur visiting the artist's studio. Perhaps the second background chair was included to offer the observer a comparison of relative sizes in order to enhance the sensation of depth.
When this map was made, the official separation and resulting peace of the Northern (today's Netherlands) from the Southern Provinces (today's Belgium) which it represents was about to be officialized. The map may be seen as an extensive panorama of military history of the war of liberation of the Seventeen Provinces from Spanish rule. The inscription inside the decorative cartouche addressed the map's military theme: "The tremendous wars waged in these countries in bygone days, and still waged in these days, bear sufficient witness to the whole wide world of the great strength, power and wealth of these very countries." Naturally, this inscription cannot be read on Vermeer's representation.
Only one complete original copy of this map has survived. It was discovered in the double bottom of a chest that had been locked for years, in "Skokloster," the house built by the Swedish admiral Wrangler, near Uppsala in Sweden. Vermeer's map includes a title band on the top, a series of town views along the sides which frame the central part of the map. The central part was printed with nine separately engraved sheets. 17th-century catalogues advertised maps which could be purchased "with or without their ornamentation." A single map could be composed in several ways making it a made-to-order-work-of art and some makers offered custom hand coloring Very few wall maps of this kind have survived even though catalogues, inventories, interior paintings and other documents tell us that they must have been printed in great numbers. All the maps in Vermeer's painting were printed in Amsterdam which was then one of the principle centers of map-making in the world.
Other painters, including Jacob Ochtervelt and Nicolas Maes, appear to have used the same map six times in their paintings. Only in Vermeer's painting do we find it attached with the vertical series of town views.
The Artist in His Studio (detail)
Rembrandt van Rijn
c.1629
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Vermeer's easel was identical to those depicted in numerous Dutch paintings, such as the one pictured in an early self-portrait by Rembrandt (see image left). The crossbar on which the painting is poised could be lowered and raised by a very simple system of pegs and holes. Some critics have noted that the left-hand leg of the easel seems to have not erroneously omitted as it approaches the tiled floor. However, if one carefully projects the upper contours it can be seen that it fits snugly behind the two left legs of the stool on which the painter is seated.
Although Vermeer specialists do not believe that this painting was conceived primarily as a self-portrait, there is no reason why the artist would have not wished to leave at least some testimony of himself. Perhaps the artist's long, soft hair which gracefully flows out from under the beret, was his own. It imperceptibly blends into the colors of the background which is one of the most suggestive but least noticed passages of the work.
It has been remarked more than once that the black beret, despite its realistic appearance, has been barely modeled. Simple berets of this kind were, as they still are, considered a common attribute of painters. There exist other paintings in which the artist turns his back towards the viewer but none completely conceal his face. The viewer remains utterly alone to imagine what he looked like.
Specialists generally agree that the demure young woman represents Clio, the muse of history, as described in Cesare Ripa's 16th-century book of emblems and personifications, Iconologia. Translated into Dutch in 1644, Ripa's volume was widely consulted by history painters. Vermeer also used it for least one other allegorical painting, the late Allegory of Faith.
Clio's crown of laurel denotes glory and eternal life. Her trumpet signifies fame. The thirst for fame was considered a fundamental stimulus to artistic production. By placing Clio at the center of his allegory, Vermeer emphasizes the importance of history to the visual arts. Theorists argued that the highest form of artistic expression was history painting which comprised biblical, mythological, historical and allegorical subjects. Curiously, Vermeer himself practiced true history paintings only at the outset of his career. By placing this allegory in a contemporary setting, he may have wished to prove that the lofty values of history painting could also be achieved when representing modern settings. In any case, this painting proves that Vermeer, far beyond being a typical Dutch artisan/painter, was aware of the major artistic debates which circulated among the cultural elite.
History, obviously, was related to the concept of fame. The ancient Greek artists understood their work held potential as a vehicle for fame. By the fourth century B.C., artists incorporated their own likenesses into works. The self-portrait served as a prominent and sophisticated signature for artists like Phidias, who, for example, included his image in the guise of a warrior on the massive cult statue of Athena in the Parthenon. Even Plutarch, writing on the most distinguished names in Greek history in his Lives, notes Phidias' great fame and how his works "brought envy."
Title page of the English
edition of Iconologia by Cesare Ripa
The young woman, who represents the muse of history Clio, holds in one hand a trumpet and in the other a large book, perhaps a volume by Thucydides or Herodotus. Vermeer portrays the back side of the volumes where one would not expect to see an inscription avoiding the temptation of becoming overtly didactical precluding our purely visual enjoyment of the work.
The trumpet stands for fame. In Samuel van Hoogstraten's Inleyding tot de hooge schoole der schilderkonst (Introduction to the Art of Painting, 1678) an image of Clio is depicted, almost exactly as described in Cesare Ripa's Iconologia, a famous early iconographic dictionary which was widely used by painters of historical and allegorical subject matter.
A Cavalier (self portrait)
Frans van Mieris
1657/59
20 x 16 cm
Collection Art Gallery of New South Wales
Dutch costume expert Marieke de Winkel challenges the long-held idea that the artist's peculiar dress was outdated and was meant to reflect gone bye times. Although this kind of slashed doublet was not universally worn, it was an item of contemporary dress. This fashion had occurred in earlier times and had become popular again in the 1620s and 1630s but had reached its extreme form in the 1660s, when Vermeer made the Art of Painting.
Vermeer's choice of such an elaborate and historical costume was deliberate. By claiming an affiliation with the earlier Netherlandish painters he was literally trying to step in their shoes. He modeled himself on his illustrious Northern predecessors rather than on an aristocratic gentiluomo or poet or even less the rags and poverty of the dissolute self portraits which had become very popular in the Netherlands. Artists, especially successful ones, evidently enjoyed dressing themselves up in similar fanciful garments such as a self portrait Frans van Mieris (see image above).
Other painters, such as Eglon van der Neer, Caspar Netscher and Gabriel Metsu, depicted very similar garments. By Vermeer's times they were referred to as "innocents," a term which also means "retarded" or "simpleton" most likely because they had become so short and revealed so much of the undergarment that they appeared somewhat foolish. Thus, it seems likely that does not place the artist outside his time, but as Eric Jan Sluiter noted, "beyond the ordinary, which is fitting for a figure representative of this honorable art."
It was not uncommon to drawn on costumes painted in the past. Painter and art writer Karel van Mander recommended the prints of Lucas van Leyden as an excellent resource for historic costumes. "In these, as with all his other prints, one sees pleasant variations of faces and costumes after the old styles: hats, caps and headdresses which for the most part, differ one from another, so that in Italy the great masters of our own time have been able to profit greatly from his works in that they have borrowed from them and applied things in their own works, with occasional small variations."
Most experts believe that Vermeer created this painting with the aid of a camera obscura, a precursor of the modern photographic camera. This device, a marvel of its day, was well known to painters and men of science. One of most conspicuous indications of the use of the camera obscura can be seen in the unfocused rendering of the drapery which hangs over the edge of the table. The true focus of the painting was further to the background. This optical phenomenon, known as depth of field, is not evident in normal vision since the eye is constantly refocusing as it moves from one object to the next. Moreover, experimentation with period camera obscuras shows very similar effects when soft materials are not in focus.
The inclusion of this large bound volume may support the idea of art theorists that painting was a liberal art and that the painter was no craftsman but an educated intellectual on the level of poets and philosophers. Leonardo da Vinci's introduction to his Treatise on Painting reads: "Painting has every right to complain of being driven out from the number of Liberal Arts, since she is a true daughter of nature and employs the noblest of all the senses. It was wrong, oh writers, to leave her out from the number of Liberal Arts, because she deals not only with the works of nature but extends over an infinite number of things which nature never created."
In the Studio (detail)
Michael Sweerts
1652
73.5 x 58.8 cm
Detroit Institute Museum of Arts, Detroit
This curious, large-scale plaster mask has always intrigued scholars. Some have proposed that it symbolizes the art of painting through its association with the painter's academic training. Drawing from plaster casts of antiquity, considered "more perfect than nature," was a fundamental requirement of an artist's training. The Accademia di San Luca in Rome (founded in 1593) devised a curriculum to combat the decline of art (Caravaggio and his followers who practiced painting directly from nature) which was based on drawing from Classical sculpture, perspective, anatomy, and foreshortening. The evident foreshortening in Vermeer's rendering of the mask may allude this form of training.
It is also possible that the mask alludes to the so called paragone, or the comparison of the arts (see Special Topics below) although it has been even associated with transience.
Recently, art historian Sabine Pénot has noted that "a headband runs above the eyebrows, which blends into a diadem-like element, such that the top of the cast is pointed." She suggests that, taking into account that the head is in direct contact with the brilliantly lit triangle of background wall and the its, illusive gossamer rendering, an association with Apollo, the god of light might be reasonable made. Leonaert Bramer, the most respected artist in Delft at the time with whom Vermeer had close contacts, had elevated painting to the Liberal Arts in the decorative program of the new Delft Guild of St. Luke in which Apollo and the art of painting were united.
The detail to the left of Michael Sweert's An Artist in his Studio (1652) shows a young painter in front of two plaster casts of classical sculptures of faces similar to the ones in Vermeer's Art of Painting.
Self Portrait
Michiel van Musscher
c. 1665-1667
47,6 x 36,8 cm
Vienna, Liechtenstein Museum
Most experts believe that Vermeer did not reveal significant information about his own working methods in this painting. Both the artist's palette and chest with drawers, which would have contained the rest of the necessary materials, are both conspicuously absent (see image left).
Vermeer's seated painter applies paint in full color directly to the top of the canvas where the laurel leaves are represented. Instead, we know that after the initial drawing Vermeer, like most fine painters of his school, blocked in the basic forms and lighting of his composition with brownish pigment. Successively, color was added. This monochrome stage is known as underpainting and was widely employed by Northern painters of the time, especially among artists whose compositions were more elaborate and drawing precise.
Perhaps the only detail which accurately reflects Vermeer's working methods is the so-called maulstick, or painter's stick. The maulstick a standard piece of 17th-century studio equipment and served to steady the artist's hand for detailed work while distancing it from the wet paint on the underlying canvas. In Vermeer's death inventory, one maulstick was noted.
To identify the source for the map in The Art of Painting, we need not look beyond the painting itself. A lengthy Latin inscription found at the top of the map (partially obscured by the chandelier) may be read as follows: NOVA XVII PROV[IN]CIARUM [GERMANIAE INF]ERI- [O]RIS DESCRIPTIOI ET ACCURATA EARUNDEM ...DE NO[VO] EM[EN]D[ATA]...REC[TISS]- IME EDIT[AP]ERNICOLAUM PISCATOREM. Thus, the origins of the map (designed with north to the right), which shows the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands (Germania Inferior), can be attributed to Nicolaus Visscher (Nicolaus Piscator).
To identify the source for the map in The Art of Painting, we need not look beyond the painting itself. A lengthy Latin inscription found at the top of the map (partially obscured by the chandelier) may be read as follows: NOVA XVII PROV[IN]CIARUM [GERMANIAE INF]ERI- [O]RIS DESCRIPTIOI ET ACCURATA EARUNDEM...DE NO[VO] EM[EN]D[ATA]...REC[TISS]- IME EDIT[AP]ERNICOLAUM PISCATOREM. Thus, the origins of the map (designed with north to the right), which shows the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands (Germania Inferior), can be attributed to Nicolaus Visscher (Nicolaus Piscator).
The large, thin folio which hangs over the edge of the table has been variably interpreted as an architectural drawing folio or music manuscript even though its present state of conservation does not permit it to be identified with certainty. In such a carefully composed and articulated allegory such as the present work, it seems odd that Vermeer would have left its meaning unclear. Some critics have also understood it as being a large folio containing preparatory drawings which the artist would have consulted while working. Painters often made many drawings from nature which were used during the actual painting process. Few painters actually painted directly from life.
In conjunction with this manuscript Vermeer specialists have noted that in the inventory of Vermeer's house taken after the artist's death, were listed "five books in folio size; another 25 books of all kinds." Unfortunately, none of the books were identified. The draping page, which barely touches the artist, plays an important role linking the figure of the painter and his model who would have been physically divided and hence thematically isolated.
The blade-like form of this brilliant patch of white wall energizes the entire composition. It's effect is even more pronounced when the painting is observed directly. The irregularities produced by the notable paint build-up and the vigorous brushstrokes add sparkle to the pure white paint (white lead). Prepared artificially since the earliest historical times and used until the nineteenth century, this warm white is very opaque, has outstanding brushing qualities and mixes well with every color on the artist's palette. As its name suggests, Lead white is a by-product of lead, and whatever the form of manufacture used, the purity of the color depends on the purity of the lead. White lead produced in the Netherlands was particularly prized. In the "Dutch" or "stack" process strips of lead rolled up into spirals were placed in closed earthenware jars containing acetic acid, and the pots were then buried under tanner's bark or dung; the heat evolved by fermentation aids in the formation of white lead through an increase of carbonic acid. Very soon a thin coat of white coating forms. The white lead is then washed of and cleaned. White lead is extremely poisonous and must be handled with care but it mechanical behavior cannot be substituted by other pigments even though today is has been entirely supplanted by titanium white preferred for its cooler tone and superior covering power.
Because these splendid marble floors can been seen in most genre pictures from the middle and the third quarter of the seventeenth-century, we have been led to believe that they were present in nearly all well-to-do interiors. However, it seems doubtful that Vermeer could have directly observed and painted this type of marble tile in his own studio. Willemijn Fock, a historian of the decorative arts, has demonstrated that floors paved with marble tiles were extremely rare in the Dutch seventeenth-century houses and that only in the houses of "the very wealthy where floors of this type were sometimes found, they were usually confined to smaller spaces such as voorhuis, corridors and upper story sleeping or storage rooms." Fock reasons that the abundant representations of these floors in Dutch genre painting may be explained by the fact that artists were attracted by the challenge involved in representing the difficult perspective of receding multicolored marble tiling.
Clothing has the power to convey many meanings in painting. In formal portraiture, great importance was given to the dress to suit the ideals or culture of the sitter. Although the fanciful styles of past centuries often come to mind when we think of 17th-century painting, the vast majority of formal portraits show sitters in "normal" dress. Occasionally, more original types opted for the so-called portrait historié in which the sitter or sitters sported garments and fashion accessories of historical figures of the past, diverse and remote as those as Anthony and Cleopatra. Through the portrait historié one might proclaim his affinity with virtues of classical times.
The painter generally had little to say about the sitter's choice to dress. Through his art, he manipulated the appearance of the tuck, fold, textural qualities and lighting to convey his own aesthetic concerns. Sometimes, prevailing fashions such as the typical black clothing of the early 17th century left the artist few opportunities to indulge in the finer points of his craft. Fanciful, expensive dress and even jewelry might be lent to the painter for the more extravagant portraits. Back in the studio, the artist would duplicate the lighting, pose and dress of the sitter with the aid of a life-size mannequin so that the complex patterns of tuck and fold would not be altered every time the sitter moved.
The standing model, dressed in blue silk and a long light yellow silk gown personifies Clio, the muse of history, a figure drawn from classical Greek literature. Her blue wrap, casually draped over the shoulders, does not belong to contemporary fashion. It was meant to recall the Antique and links Vermeer's composition to theme of art whereby a great work of art would bring fame to both the artist and his city, a theme already dear to the ancient Greeks. Her long silk gown with three black bands along the lower border, instead, appears to be a contemporary garment seen in similar versions many times in interior genre painting of the time.
Many authors have linked the many silk garments in Vermeer's compositions to his father's dealing with caffa (a mixture of silk and cotton or wool adapted for dress and upholstery) but one only has to look at the hundreds of interior paintings of the time to understand that they were one of the most characterizing elements the school. We can only reason that such garments were both highly desirable objects in themselves and an important calling card for potential art buyers. Gerard ter Borch, one of the finest genre painter of the time, established his flourishing career on his uncanny ability to render every nuance of silk.
- the "mapmaking impulse"
- Vermeer in his studio?
- fame & the art of painting
- Vermeer & the "Liefhebbers van de Schilderknost" (art lovers)
- the paragone: the superiority of painting
- self portraits of Dutch painters in their studios
- a free lesson in painting technique
- a very ambitious painter
- The Art of Painting & Adolf Hitler
- listen to period trumpet music
critical excerpt
c. 1666-1667
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
Vermeer: The Complete Works, New York, 1997)
c.- 1666-1669
Walter Liedtke Vermeer: The Complete Paintings, New York, 2008)
The support is a plain weave linen with a thread count of 11.1 x 16.5 per cm2. Cusping shows that the canvas was secured to the strainer with 11 (wooden?) nails at the sides and 9 at top and bottom. The canvas vas lined with a glue lining and strecher construction probably from the 19th century.
Recent examination has detected the date, applied by the artist, immediately following his signature, and can be interpreted as MDCLXVI(I I ?). The lettering is consistent with selected inscriptions in both the Astronomer (1668) and especially the Geographer (1669). A signature of Pieter de Hooch, applied in the 18th century, is still present and can be clearly seen through infrared reflectography, positioned along the lower cross support of the artist's stool.
The ground is made of a single (principle) layer containing coarsely ground lead white with admixtures of chalk, ochre, umber and charcoal black. The color of the ground is a mid level, somewhat neutralized, greybrown. Earlier binding media analysis of the preparation layer in the Vienna canvas suggested that it contains both protein (glue) and drying oils (mixed). Recent analysis reveals that the dominant medium for the ground is linseed oil.
The x-ray of the painting does not reveal any detectable changes in composition. Examinations with infrared reflectogram reveals that the initial modeling of the forms is constructed through the characterization of the shadowed areas first.
Fine black lines of underdrawing have been detected, defining the contours of various design elements, for example at the arms of the chandelier, at the framing of the single city views in the wall map or at the easel.
The vanishing point of the complex composition is marked with a pinhole just under the knob at the left edge of the map. Recent examination has detected a second deformation (similarly positioned at the right side of the map) that acts as a vanishing point for the stool upon which the artist is sitting.
Yellow earth, umbra or ochre was detected within the leaves of the tapestry with indications of additional ultramarine in areas of shadows. Lead tin yellow is the primary pigment present in the chandelier - most likely together with lead white (subsequently glazed) - or with pure lead tin yellow. Lead tin yellow has been detected for the highlights of the chair tacks and umbra or ochre for the boarder fringe. Ochre is the chief pigment in the book Clio is holding.
A copper (soap) based underpainting (verdigris) can be seen covered with a semi transparent layer of ultramarine, for the teal covered textile draped from the table at left. Ultramarine has been detected in the blue of the ships within the right side of the map and the veining in the marble floor. The leaves within the tapestry would originally have a stronger green coloration. The color was almost certainly made with the admixture, or application of, an organic based glaze that was light or solvent sensitive.
Vermilion was found as the pigment for the leggings of the painter. Additionally a possible red organic glaze over a medium brown under-layer within the tapestry can be seen.
Charcoal (vine) black is used almost exclusively, except for one area where a pentiment in the right shoe of the painter is located. Here boneblack is the principle pigment. Copper is found as an admixture as well as iron oxide in the paints of the painter to lend a warmer tone.
present condition
In the early 1950s, on a travelling exhibition from the Kunsthistorisches Museum's paintings collection the considerable adhesion problems with minute flaking above all in the lighter areas, were noticed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and drawn in a diagram in 1968 during Herman Kühn's study of Vermeer's pigments and grounds. The first in-depth study concerning the delicate condition of the painting was made 1994/95 in connection with the large Vermeer-exhibition of 1995/96 in Washington and The Hague. The examinations of the binding medium, ground and paint layers revealed an oil-rich tempera mixture with additions of small amounts of proteinaceous material used by Vermeer to render the lighter colored passages in the painting. In addition with the resins, gums and proteins, detected in the overlying coatings this resulted in increased mechanical forces. The process of flaking seems to resist under stable conditions, but was activated by external (climatic and mechanical) factors.
* see Robert Wald, "The Art of Painting. Observations on Approach and Technique," 312-321, and Elke Oberthaler, Jaap J. Boon et al., +The Art of Painting by Johannes Vermeer. History of Treatments and Observations on the Present Condition," 322-327, in: Vermeer. Die Malkunst. exh. cat. ed. by Sabine Haag, Elke Oberthaler, Sabine Pénot. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna 2010.
literature
- The artist's widow, Catharina Bolnes (1675-76);
- transferred to her mother, Maria Thins (24 February 1676);
- evidently sold at auction in Delft, 15 March 1677;
- possibly Baron Gerard van Swieten, prefect of the Imperial Court Library, Vienna (d.1772);
- his son, Gottfried van Swieten (d.1803);
- his estate, as by Pieter de Hooch (1803-13, sold to Czernin);
- Count Johann Rudolf Czernin (1813-34, as by De Hooch);
- by descent to Count Eugen Czernin (d.1955) and Jaromir Czernin (d.1966);
- Adolf Hitler (1940-45); Munich Central Collecting Point (1945);
- transferred on 17 November 1945 to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, in 1958 to the museum's permanent collection (inv. 9128).
exhibitions
| vermeer's life | The Concert presents a very similar deep spatial recession similar to the earlier Music Lesson. Vermeer's interest in the accurate portrayal of three dimensional perspective to create such an effect was shared by other interior genre painters of the time, however, only Vermeer seems to have fully and consciously understood the expressive function of perspective. The two paintings' underlying theme of music between male and female company is also analogous although few critics believe they were conceived as a pendant. In the paintings of the 1660s the painted surfaces are smoother and less tactile, the lighting schemes tend to be less bold. These pictures convey and impalpable air of reticence and introspection, unique among genre painters with the possible exception of Gerard ter Borch. |
| dutch painting | Frans Hals, eminent Dutch portrait painter, dies. It was formerly believed that he died in the Oudemannenhuis almshouse in Haarlem which was later became the Frans Halsmuseum. |
| european painting & architecture | François Mansart, French architect, dies. Apr 9, 1st public art exhibition (Palais Royale, Paris). |
| music | Dec 5, Francesco Antonio Nicola Scarlatti, composer, is born. |
| literature | Le Misanthrope by Molière is palyed at the Palais-Royal, Paris. |
| science & philosophy | Laws of gravity established by Cambridge University mathematics professor Isaac Newton, 23, state that the attraction exerted by gravity between any two bodies is directly proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Newton has returned to his native Woolsthorpe because the plague at Cambridge has closed Trinity College, where he is a fellow; he has observed the fall of an apple in an orchard at Woolsthorpe and calculates that at a distance of one foot the attraction between two objects is 100 times stronger than at 10 feet. Although he does not fully comprehend the nature of gravity, he concludes that the force exerted on the apple is the same as that exerted on Earth by the moon. Calculusis invented by Isaac Newton will prove to be one of the most effective tool for scientific investigation ever produced by mathematics. Nov 14, Samuel Pepys reported the on first blood transfusion, which was between dogs. The plague decimates London and Isaac Newton moved to the country. He had already discovered the binomial theorem at Cambridge and was offered the post of professor of mathematics. Newton formulates his law of universal gravitation. A French Academy of Sciences (Académie Royale des Sciences) founded by Louis XIV at Paris seeks to rival London's 4-year-old Royal Society. Jean Baptiste Colbert has persuaded the king to begin subsidizing scientists. Christiaan Huygens, along with 19 other scientists, is elected as a founding member. After the French Revolution, the Royale is dropped and the character of the academy changes. It later becomes the Institut de France. |
| history | Sep 2, The Great Fire of London, started at Pudding Lane, began to demolish about four-fifths of London when in the house of King Charles II's baker, Thomas Farrinor, forgets to extinguish his oven. The flames raged uncontrollably for the next few days, helped along by the wind, as well as by warehouses full of oil and other flammable substances. Approximately 13,200 houses, 90 churches and 50 livery company halls burn down or explode. But the fire claimed only 16 lives, and it actually helped impede the spread of the deadly Black Plague, as most of the disease-carrying rats were killed in the fire. Because almost all European paper is made from recycled cloth rags, which are becoming increasingly scarce as more and more books and other materials are printed, the English Parliament bans burial in cotton or linen cloth so as to preserve the cloth for paper manufacture. |
| vermeer's life | Vermeer's name is mentioned in a poem by Arnold Bon in Dirck van Bleyswijck's Beschryvinge der Stadt Delft (Description of the City of Delft) published in 1667. It is the most significant and direct reference to Vermeer's art to be found. The poem written by Arnold Bon, Bleyswyck's publisher, was composed in the honor of Carl Fabritius who had died in the famous ammunitions explosion. Vermeer's name is lauded in the poem's last stanza.
Maria Thins empowers Vermeer to collect various debts owed to her and to reinvest the money according to his will and discretion. Vermeer's mother-on-law evidently maintained her moral and financial support of Vermeer and his family. Another of Vermeer's children is buried in the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft. |
| dutch painting | Gabriel Metsu, ecclectic Dutch painter, dies. |
| european painting & architecture | Francesco Borromini, Italian sculptor and architect, dies. Borromini designed the San Ivo della Sapienza church in Rome Alonso Cano, Spanish painter and architect, dies. |
| music | German composer-organist-harpsichordist Johann Jakob Froberger dies at Héricourt, France. His keyboard suites will be published in 1693, arranged in the order that will become standard: allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue. |
| literature | Paradise Lost is written by John Milton, who has been blind since 1652 but has dictated to his daughters the 10-volume work on the fall of man, Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. Milton's Adam questions the angel Raphael about celestial mechanics, Raphael replies with some vague hints and then says that "the rest from Man or Angel the great Architect did wisely conceal and not divulge His secrets to be scann'd by them who ought rather admire." The work enjoys sales of 1,300 copies in 18 months and will be enlarged to 12 volumes in 1684, the year of Milton's death; Annus Mirabilis by John Dryden is about the Dutch War and last year's Great Fire. Nov 7, Jean Racine's Andromaque, premiered in Paris. |
| science & philosophy | National Observatory, Paris, founded |
| history | Pope Alexander VII dies. Giulio Rospigliosi becomes Pope Clement IX. c. 1667 In France, during the reign of King Louis XIV, the fork begins to achieve popularity as an eating implement. Formerly, only knives and spoons had been used. Jun 18, The Dutch fleet sailed up the Thames and threatened London. They burned 3 ships and capture the English flagship. Jun 21, The Peace of Breda endsthe Second Anglo-Dutch War (1664-67) and sees the Dutch cede New Amsterdam (on Manhattan Island) to the English in exchange for the island of Surinam. De Verstandige Kok (The Sensible Cook) is published for the first time. Geared towards middle- and upper middle-class families, the book advises a regular and balanced diet, including fresh meat at least once a week, frequent servings of bread and cheese, stew, fresh vegetables and salads. While simple dishes, such as porridge, pancakes and soup with bread are eaten by all classes, studies reveal that only the affluent have regular access to fresh vegetables during the period; the less wealthy depend on dried peas and beans. |
| vermeer's life | Vermeer signs and dates the Astronomer 1668. Some scholars believe that Delft citizen Antony van Leeuwenhoek, who was by then internationally recognized for his studies in optics and scientific observations, posed for the Astronomer, although portraits of Leeuwenhoek bears little resemblance to the seated man in Vermeer's picture. |
| dutch painting | Rembrandt paints Return of the Prodigal Son. Gabriel van de Velde paints Golfers on the Ice. Philips Wouwerman, Dutch painter, dies. He was the most celebrated member of a family of Dutch painters from Haarlem, where he worked virtually all his life. He became a member of the painters' guild in 1640 and is said by a contemporary source to have been a pupil of Frans Hals. The only thing he has in common with Hals, however, is his nimble brushwork, for he specialized in landscapes of hilly country with horses - cavalry skirmishes, camps, hunts, travelers halting outside an inn, and so on. In this genre he was immensely prolific and also immensely successful. |
| european painting & architecture | Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, Austian architect, is born. Bernini sculpts a terra cotta study for one of the angels of Rome's Port Santa Angelo. |
| music | Nov 10, Francois Couperin, composer and organist (Concerts Royaux), is born in Paris, France. Danish organist-composer Diderik Buxtehude, 31, is named organist at the Marienkirche in Lübeck, succeeding Franz Tunder (whose daughter, Anna, he marries).His sacred Abendmusiken concerts will be presented each year during Advent on the five Sundays before Christmas. Buxtehude's cantatas and instrumental organ work will have a strong influence on other composers. Mar 5, Francesco Gasparini, composer, is born. |
| literature | Apr 13, John Dryden (36) became 1st English poet laureate. |
| science & philosophy | Robert Hooke: Discourse on Earthquakes. Newton invents the reflecting telescope, building the first telescope based on a mirror (reflector) instead of a lens (refractor). First accurate description of red corpuscles by Anthony van Leeuwenhoek. Leeuwenhoek was born in the same year as Vermeer and is often associated to the artist for their interest in optics. Chemist Johann R. Glauber dies at Amsterdam March 10 at age 63. |
| history | Mar 26, England takes control of Bombay, India. Mar 27, English king Charles II gives Bombay to the East India Company. Sep 16, King John Casimer II of Poland abdicates his throne. Louis XIV of France purchased the 112 carat blue diamond from John Baptiste Tavernier for 220,000 livre. Tavernier is also given a title of nobility. Feb 7, The Netherlands, England and Sweden conclude an alliance directed against Louis XIV of France. |
In the groundbreaking The Art of Describing, Svetlana Alpers declared that the interpretation of maps in Vermeer's paintings merely as symbols was too restrictive point of view. An overlooked, but vital characteristic of the Dutch culture and of its art, she suggested, is "the mapping impulse." Thus, the map hanging on the wall—so perfectly rendered that it has no equal in Dutch painting—is filled with multiple meaning. First, it is a "powerful pictorial presence" which catches the viewer's attention in many ways. The details are so specific that the particular map can be identified. It is large, with many visual components, including lettering, pictures, and the lines of the map itself. Finally, Vermeer placed his signature on it. In all these ways, Vermeer likened the painting to the map and, by extension, the act of painting to the act of map-making. For Alpers, this similarity reveals something essential about the Dutch idea of painting.
The Music Lesson (detail)
Jacob Ochtervelt
1671
Art Institute of Chicago
In reference to the connection between painting and mapmaking Alpers wrote: "The aim of Dutch painters was to capture on a surface a great range of knowledge and information about the world. They too employed words with their images. Like the mappers, they made additive works that could not be taken in from a single viewing point. Theirs was not a window on the Italian model of art but rather, like a map, a surface on which is laid out an assemblage of the world."
A similar but not identical map of the United Provinces appears on the background in a contemporary work by Jacob Ochtervelt (see image left). However, as usual in Dutch art, it is delineated with scarce attention to the physical properties of the map itself and functions more as a compositional filler.
In 1696, two decades after Vermeer's death, twenty-one of his "excellent and artful paintings" were sold in an Amsterdam auction presumably collected by Pieter van Ruijven and inherited by his son-in-law Jacob Dissius. In the sales catalogue, item number 3 was described as "the portrait of Vermeer in a room with various accessories, uncommonly beautiful painted by him." This painting was sold for the relatively low price of 45 guilders, scarcely twice more than that of the tiny Lacemaker in the same auction. Thus, few experts believe it corresponds to the Art of Painting which is many times larger and a far more ambitious composition. In fact, most agree that Vermeer's intention was not so much to make a lasting effigy of himself, but rather to commemorate and define the role of the artist in history and his association with fame through the use of symbols which in those times must have been readily understood by the cultural elite to whom this image was destined.
Clio
Pierre Mignard
1689
143,5 x 115 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
In our own times, when art is often accorded merit on the basis of its originality, it is difficult to imagine a time when artists and writers regularly consulted a book of iconography before starting work. Ever since antiquity artists sought to convey abstract ideas in visual forms through the use of symbols which could be readily deciphered by men of equal cultural standing. Iconologia, originally compiled by the Italian Cesare Ripa in the late sixteenth century, is such a work.
One recurrent question which occupied painters concerned the artist's place in society. Should he be considered a craftsman, on par with carpenters and goldsmiths, or a creative genius, such as poets and philosophers? Another concern was that the great artist could bestow eternal fame to his city or nation through his work.
In The Art of Painting, Vermeer presumably addressed both issues by portraying an allegorical figure, Clio, the muse of History. In antiquity, Clio was one of the nine muses, personifications of the highest aspirations of art and intellect in Greek mythology. The Muses were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the Titan goddess whose name means memory. When the Romans later separated the muses' fields of inspiration, Clio became the patron of history. Her antique symbols are a laurel wreath and a scroll.
In Vermeer's painting Clio is portrayed as a girl with a crown of laurel that denotes glory, a trumpet and in her left arm she cradles a large yellow volume presumably of Thucydides' Histories. Thucydides' volume can be seen in an etching contained in Samuel van Hoogstraten's Inleyding tot de Hooge Schoole der Schilderkonst, published 1678. Van Hoogstraten believed paintings should strive to become universal science which could represent all things visible.
Scholars believe that Vermeer's Art of Painting addressed a number of weighty issues which regarded both the art of painting and the fine arts in general. One of them was the so-called paragone, or the comparison of the arts.
In the past, there was an enduring and impassioned debate concerning the hierarchical status of the various arts. In the Quattrocento, Italy was the battleground on which painters, still handicapped by the classical prejudice against manual labor, fought to establish their art on the higher tier of the Liberal Arts. Practicing painters, in fact, were then relegated among artisans and craftsmen. The rivalries between painting and poetry and painting and sculpture were particularly intense although in the course of the Renaissance the kinship between painting and poetry became commonplace so much that they were considered sister arts by some.
Having worked in sculpture and painting, the great Leonardo da Vinci claimed the right to judge the value of each. While painting could imitate sculpture, sculpture could not imitate painting. Furthermore, "painting is the more beautiful and the more imaginative and the more copious, while sculpture is the more durable but it has nothing else." For Leonardo, the limitation to poetic expression lies in its use of verbal language alone: "Painting comprehends in itself all the forms of nature, while you have nothing but words, which are not universal as form is, and if you have the effects of the representation, we have the representation of the effects." that is, one word after another; painting, vice versa, renders the whole of a scene immediately evident through a single image. The artists and scholars who celebrated painting's superiority over sculpture cited its ability to imitate and surpass nature, but perhaps most importantly, its ability to deceive nature itself. Furthermore, it offered a kind of permanence that contrasts with the fleeting nature of music.
By Vermeer's time, the debate still enflamed and had been extended to science as well. It was argued that doctors and astronomers can know the visible world through the use of their use of acquired skills, but artists can not only comprehend the natural world, they can replicate it. The painter's art embraces and recreates the entire visible world, or as in the words of painter and art theorist Samuel van Hoogstraten, "the Art of Painting is a science for representing all the ideas or notions that visible nature in its entirety can produce, and for deceiving the eye with outline and color."
Deception as we know, was at the heart of Vermeer's concept of illusionist painting and perhaps nowhere more manifest than in his monumental Art of Painting.
Although Dutch art abounds in self portraits of artists in their studio, it is difficult to ascertain how true-to-life they were. Two conventions in studio self portraits dominated the 17th-century art market, both were a subtle blending of fact and fiction.
On one hand, history painters, steeped in the memories of classical models, strove to convey an idealistic view of their profession assuming the traditional guise of the learned gentleman artist fostered by Renaissance. Artists depicted themselves surrounded not only with the tools of their trade but crowded with seemingly irrelevant props and even mythological figures brought in and arranged for the occasion to communicate specific concepts about their art through the use of symbolism and allegory. A perfect example of this mode of self portraiture is Vermeer's own Art of Painting.
The Artist in His Studio
Rembrandt van Rijn
c.1629
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
However, in the 17th-century Netherlands, a startling new development in self-portraiture began to rival the classical model and became one of the most salable genres of all. Painters presented themselves in a more unseemly light than those of the glorious past.
Dropping the noble robes of the pictor doctus, they smoked, drank, wore rags in dilapidated studios and chased women. The Dutch artistic literature of the 17th century was rife with interesting, often comical anecdotes about artists' personal lives and working methods which kindled the public's imagination and appetite for images. Dutch artists explored a new mode of self-expression in "dissolute self-portraits," as Ingrid A. Cartwright called the, embracing the many behaviors that art theorists and the culture at large disparaged.
Cartwright wrote that dissolute self-portraits also reflect and respond to a larger trend regarding artistic identity in the 17th century, notably, the stereotype "hoe schilder hoe wilder" (if painter, then crazy ). Artists embraced this special identity, which in turn granted them certain freedoms from social norms and a license to misbehave.
Such self-portraits were extremely salable since they not only portrayed the artist but were considered a specimen of the artist's exceptional talent and a manifestation of his original character as well. Modern art historians now believe that the numerous self portraits by Rembrandt were intended as such.
Two Trumpet Duets, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber
performed by Clarino Consort
http://clarinoconsort.com/mp3.htm
Natural trumpet made by Paul Hainlein,
Nürnberg 1666
National Music Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota
http://www.usd.edu/smm/Brass/Trumpets/NaturalTrumpets/
Hainlein/3873/HainleinTrumpet3873.html
The trumpet, one of the oldest instruments, is already mentioned in the Bible (the "trumpets of Jericho" or the "trumpets of the Last Judgement"). Its ancient precursors were widespread in Africa and Europe and were principally made from ivory, animal horns or shells (triton) or from tree bark shavings. Long straight metal trumpets were used in the ancient Egyptian culture both for signaling but moreover as cult- and symbolic instruments demonstrating the royal power of the Pharaohs. Two of these instruments, made of silver and bronze, were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun (1333-1323 B.C). Similar functions can be traced to the ancient Greek and Etrusco-Roman empire (called there "Salpinx", "Tuba", "Lituus" or "Buccina") as well as in the Byzantine era.
After the fall of the Roman empire the trumpet disappeared from Europe and was reintroduced in the Middle Ages, when the Crusaders took them from the Saracens as war booty and soon became widespread in Europe. The trumpet's most important functions were the military signaling in the battles and the signaling of power and status, as only a king was allowed to have trumpeters at his court.
In the 16th and 17th centuries ,the Royal Trumpeters and Ketteldrummers held a privileged position at the Habsburg court in Vienna and were the first to get the rights of founding a guild, unique in the Holy Roman Empire. The guild regulated the number of trumpeters and ensured the trumpet's exclusiveness by restricting where it could be played and by whom.
Other courts, like that of the Emperor of Saxony in Dresden or that of the Bishop of Olomouc in Kremsier (today Kromeríz, Czech Republic) as well as the courts in Bologna and London, were well-known for their orchestras, especially for the splendid sound of their trumpet choirs. Some of the most renowned trumpet players (P. Vejvanovský, G. Fantini) and composers (J.H. Schmelzer, H.I.F. Biber, J.J. Fux) wrote intricate compositions for the trumpet or complete brass choir.
Trumpets were also used for the warning of fire or other dangers, like the approach of enemies. The so-called "waits," a group of trumpeters and shawm-players, observed the area from the church towers or other central towers to communicate any danger to the bell ringers, watchmen and the citizens in general. Later their task became a more ceremonious and decorative adjunct of civic life, providing musical entertainment at official city proceedings. J.S. Bach appreciated the important tradition of the "Turmblasen" by the municipal "Stadtpfeifer" in Leipzig. Until today a military music corps, consisting mainly of brass instruments, above all trumpets, plays on all official state ceremonies.
The form of the natural trumpet, which had been developed in the late Middle Ages, was a twice folded or closed S-shape, consisting of three yards, with a bell-shaped flare of exact mathematical proportions. The mouthpiece, as the supporting sound generator, is inserted into the first yard. The joint of the first two sections is concealed under a tightly fitted cover which in the Baroque period had a ball-shaped decoration surrounding it. This ball, called the "boss," is not a merely decorative element but strengthens the joint that attaches the bell to the rest of the instrument and serves as a grip to hold the instrument. The mouthpiece has to support and contain the vibrating membrane, i.e. the player's lips, and to produce a complementary edge-tone.
The natural trumpet is able to produce only the notes of the harmonic series. The sound of the trumpet is generally produced by blowing air through closed lips as to produce a "buzzing" effect through vibration with the support of the mouthpiece. The player can select the pitch from a range of harmonic series or overtones through altering the amount of muscular contraction in the lip formation, supported by a certain tongue manipulation.
Boy Blowing Bubbles (detail)
Frans van Mieris
1663
26 x 19 cm
Mauritshuis, The Hague
Although the picture of this artist's studio is a far cry from the realistic working conditions of a Dutch painter, Vermeer nonetheless shares with the modern viewer one of his "trade secrets." Near the top of the canvas the painter has begun depicting the model's laurel wreath in fluid brushstrokes. Curiously, the leaves are colored blue instead of the deep green one would expect. This was not a mistake.
It should be remembered that 17th-century painters had a handful of pigments, a fraction of those available to any artist today. One of the serious lacunas of his palette was a deep, stable green indispensable for rendering foliage. Dutch painters remedied this by employing a technique called glazing. First, the area intended to be green was modeled in shades of blue. Once thoroughly dry, the same area was painted over with a syrupy mixture of a transparent yellow paint and drying oil, usually linseed or poppy oil. This transparent yellow glaze, as it was called, produces an exceptionally natural, deep green without concealing the dark and light modeling beneath.
This particular glaze was utilized extensively by Dutch still life painters. By altering the intensities and proportions of the blue underpainting and the yellow glaze, still-life painters could obtain a wide range of natural greens which were not available as single pigments.
Unfortunately, this method sometimes had negative consequences. The yellow glaze, if not properly executed or exposed to negative environmental conditions, may fade in time. The foliage in Vermeer's own Little Street has suffered from such a malady. A spectacular example of this defect can be seen in Frans van Mieris' Boy Blowing Bubbles (see image above).
Much has been written about Vermeer's professional and social aspirations. His family background would be described today as lower middle-class. His grandparents were illiterate and so was his mother. But from what we can piece together from his painting and a few clue documents, Vermeer was ambitious.
The Delft artist demonstrated throughout his career the willingness to disengage himself from his original social standing and define himself as an artist/gentleman rather than a painter/artisan. Many Dutch artists were more than content to churn out less-than-original paintings and, as long as they received adequate pay, were happy to consider themselves artisans.
Vermeer married the daughter of a well-to-do Delft patrician which entailed a significant move from the lower, artisan class of his Reformed parents to the higher social stratum. His mother-in-law seems to have had a discreet art collection and family connections with a few noted Dutch painters. Archival evidence shows that in 1654, the artist is mentioned for the first time as "Meester-schilder" (Master painter) indicating he had by this time improved his professional and social status. By 1655, the "Sr " (signior or seigneur) preceding Vermeer's name in an archival document is a sure sign of the artist's improved social status. Vermeer's father was never distinguished in such a way in any of the numerous documents which regard him. Furthermore, Vermeer was elected various times to head of the St Luke Guild of Delft. In 1663, the dignified French diplomat Baron Balthasar de Monconys visited his studio most likely acting on advice from Constantijn Huygens, an influential politician and one of the foremost connoisseurs of Dutch art.
However, the most graphic indication of how Vermeer defined his position as an artist is manifested in his show-case piece, The Art of Painting. In this painting, Vermeer identifies himself with an elitist spiritual and intellectual role of the artist rather than the workaday life of the artisan. Few of the real painter's tools, which would suggest the manual status of the artist, are visible while many of the props denote "inspirational" value and awareness of the issues connected with the art of painting.
Historically, one's occupation was evaluated on the basis of its proximity to, or distance from, physical labor since manual work had been associated with slavery in antiquity. Though early Renaissance artists were certainly not considered slaves, their mechanical labor placed their social ranking firmly on the lower side of the cultural divide.
From about 1400, artists attempted to elevate their status in society. Renaissance painters attempted to qualify not only as themselves, but the entire profession as members of the Liberal, rather than Mechanical Arts. They seized on self-portraiture to help them prove their point. This was done by stressing the intellectual components in art and its production, emphasizing the artist's genius inherent and recasting the artist as a member of the social and artistic nobility as well as a part of the "reflected glory" of famous artists in history.
In an effort to prove painting's superiority to sculpture, Leonardo da Vinci argued that painting involved less physical effort than sculpture. Sculpture "causes much perspiration which mingles with the grit and turns to mud." The sculptor's face is "pasted and smeared all over with marble powder, his dwelling is dirty and filled with dust and chips of stone." The painter on the other hand "sits before his work at the greatest of ease, well dressed and applying delicate colors with his light brush". His home is "clean and adorned with delightful pictures" and he enjoys "the accompaniment of music or the company of the authors of various fine works." Vermeer's Art of Painting could not have been too far from what Leonardo had in mind.
"Monuments Man" Lt. Daniel Kern and mine
worker Max Eder inspect The Art of
Painting, found inside the mine at Altaussee.
Adolf Hitler wanted Vermeer's Art of Painting for one of his most ambitious projects, the giant art museum he planned to create in Linz, his Austrian birthplace. In 1940 he purchased it for 1.65 million Reichsmarks from Jaromir Czernin, the brother-in-law of Austria's prime minister from 1934 until Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938. The painting had been in Czernin's family since the 19th century.
As Hitler saw Vermeer as the embodiment the great artist he desired The Art of Painting to be one of the main attractions in the new Führer Museum in Linz, which he intended to fill with the art he had looted from all over Europe. At the end of the war, American troops found it stashed in a vault with a handful of other masterpieces in an Austrian salt mine along with thousands of other plundered works, including Michelangelo's Bruges Madonna and Vermeer's own Astronomer. In the final months of the war, after Hitler issued his famous Nero Decree calling for the destruction of all German infrastructure, orders were issued by the local Nazi gauleiter to destroy the artworks by blowing up the mines. His plan was foiled because lower-echelon Nazis saw no reason to ruin a perfectly good salt mine and had decided to destroy the entrance to the cave.
The Czernins began petitioning the Austrian government for the restitution of the painting in the 1960s, without success. The government argued that the sale was voluntary and the price adequate. The family has now come back with a study of the sale that they claim shows that it was made under duress.
Art-lovers in a Painter's Studio (detail)
Pieter Codde
c. 1630
38 x 49 cm
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart
By the time Vermeer had depicted the Art of Painting he must have been well introduced into the circle of connoisseurs and art dealers that counted. In those times, there existed no international museum circuit, not slew of art magazines and no enthusiastic public lined up in front of every blazoned art exhibition, but a small, fervent and essentially elitist assembly of "Liefhebbers van de Schilderknost," or Lovers of the Art of Painting.
Art lovers and artists frequented one another in the hushed privacy of the artist's studio and not at public art exhibitions, debates or auctions as they do today. Artists could advance their social standing by being associated with influential art lovers who inevitably belonged to society's upper crust while the art lovers had the opportunity to hone their knowledge of the arts which was a central requisite for any self-respecting gentleman. In the oft-quoted Essays on the Wonders of Painting Pierre le Brun advises readers that to "discourse on this noble profession, you must have frequented the studio and disputed, with the masters, have seen the magic effect of the pencil (brush), and the unerring judgment with which the details are worked out."
This symbiotic relationship between artist and art lover can be traced to the Renaissance which had reexamined numerous passages in Classical literature about artists. For example, Pliny had described the visit of Alexander the Great to Apelle's studio. The roster of Titian's clients reads like a list of international society in the 16th century: the Duke and Duchess of Urbino, Alfonso d'Este, Duke Federigo of Mantua, Ippolito de' Medici, several ancient and cunning Popes, doges, admirals, art dealers, intellectuals. Even those who were deadly enemies, like Francis I of France and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, had in common the fact of having been painted by Titian. In 1533 the Emperor Charles V appointed Titian court painter and elevated him to the rank of Count Palatine and Knight of the Golden Spur. This was an unprecedented honour for a painter, and Ridolfi tells a revealing anecdote concerning the respect Titian was accorded even by the emperor himself: Titian dropped a brush and when Charles picked it up for him he protested "Sire, I am not worthy of such a servant," to which the emperor replied "Titian is worthy to be served by Caesar."
Promoted by writers like Baldassare Castiglione in his influential Il Cortigiano (1528), it became fashionable for rulers to patronize the arts and personally frequent the great artists of the time. Later, major Dutch painters like Rembrandt, Gerrit Dou and Frans van Mieris had all made inroads to aristocratic doors. Vermeer himself had a tight relationship with Pieter van Ruijven who had acquired the title of Lord of Spalant for a colossal sum, evidently in order to style himself along the lines of the great mecenas of the past.
Portrait of Pieter Teding van Berckhout
Casper Netscher
oil on copper
Teding van Berckhout Foundation
Evidently, Vermeer's studio must have been one of the destinations for art lovers of the time. On May 14,1669, Teding van Berckhout, an up-and-coming regent from Delft, had arrived in Delft to see to visit Vermeer's studio. Duly impressed he returned a month later and wrote in his diary, "I went to see a celebrated painter named Vermeer" who "showed me some examples of his art, the most extraordinary and most curious aspect of which consists in the perspective." Van Berkhout had arrived in Delft accompanied by Constantijn Huygens and his friends - member of parliament Ewout van der Horst and ambassador Willem Nieupoort. The cosmopolitan Huygens was an artistic authority in his own day, maintaining contacts with the famous Flemish painters Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck and recording in his own diary some remarkably insightful comments about the art of, among others, Rembrandt van Rijn.
Six years earlier, a well-connected Catholic French diplomat Balthasar de Moncony, probably on Huygens' advise, had also visited Vermeer's studio. He registered his disappointment in his diary so: "In Delft I saw the painter Verme(e)r who did not have any of his works: but we did see one at a baker's, for which six hundred livres had been paid, although it contained but a single figure, for which six pistoles would have been too high a price."
Simply put, De Monconys thought the painting he saw was worth less than a tenth of the price mentioned. Unfortunately, he made no mention of the style and quality of such works - it appears he judged them exclusively on the basis of the number of hours required to do the work. The price of six hundred livres that the baker - presumably Van Buyten - thought reasonable for his painting corresponds to the six hundred livres that Dou had asked from de Monconys two days earlier for his Woman at a Window, clearly also a work with only one figure.
That Vermeer did not suit De Monconys' tastes is less significant that the fact that in prominent circles the artist's studio was on par with those of the most renowned Dutch artists
Michiel van Musscher
c. 1680/1685
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh
Michiel van Musscher
c. 1665-1667
47,6 x 36,8 cm
Vienna, Liechtenstein Museum
Michiel van Musscher
1679
57 x 47 cm
Historisch Museum Het Schielandshuis, Rotterdam
Rembrandt van Rijn
c.1629
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Vincent van der Vinne
engraving, c. 1659
Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam
Michiel van Musscher
oil on canvas
Whereabouts unknown
Adriaen Jansz. van Ostade
1663
38 x 35,5 cm Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden
Leonaert Bramer
brush and black ink, gray wash heightened
in white on blue paper
Rijksprentenkabinet de Rijkssuniversiteit, Leiden
Frans van Mieris
1657/59
20 x 16 cm
Collection Art Gallery of New South Wales
Joos van Craesbeeck
c. 1655
48.5 x 66 cm
Collection Frits Lugt, Institut Neerlandais, Paris