Vermeer's Palette

The number of pigments available to the 17th c. Dutch painter were few indeed when compared to those available to the modern artist. While the current catalogue of one of the most respected color producers (Rembrandt) displays more than a hundred pigments, less than 20 pigments have been detected in Vermeer's oeuvre. Of these few pigments only ten seemed to have been used in a more or less systematic way.

In Vermeer's time, each pigment was different in regards to permanence, workability, drying time, and means of  production. Moreover, many pigments were not mutually compatible and had to be used separately. The following study examines the history and origin of each pigment and how they were employed by Vermeer and his contemporaries as well as essential aspects of the artist's palette.

All Known Vermeer's Pigments

It is extrremely unlikely that Vermeer had on his palette in any given work session all the pigments that were available to him. Painters were known to use specific palettes set out each day according the passage to be painted. The wooden palette to the left represents the seven principle pigments which Vermeer commonly employed; 1. white lead, 2. yellow ochre, 3. vermillion, 4. red madder, 5, green earth, 6. raw umber and 7. ivory balck.

The following  examination of Vermeer's pigments is based principally based on Herman Kuhn's "A Study of the Pigments and Grounds Used by Jan Vermeer." Due to the discreet number of paint samples taken, together with the fact that they were taken only from the outer edge of the canvas, the study, while of extreme value,  furnishes partial knowledge of the which pigments and how he the artist employed them. Results of other  studies conducted in recent years have been integrated.

detial of he Art of Painting, Johannes Vermeer a detail of Vermeer's Art of Painting which represents an idealized painter at work portraying the muse of the arts, Clio
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How to Paint Your Own Vermeer: Materials & Methods of a Seventeenth-Century Master
by Jonathan Janson

the book
How to Paint Your Own Vermeer
is a straightforward, practical guide on how to reproduce Vermeer's day-to-day painting procedures for today's discerning artist.

the CD-rom
Following the guidlines in the book, a hypothetical Vermeer can be viewed in a series of 180 sequential digital images as it progresses step-by-step from the stretching of the canvas to the final touches and glazes.