Whether Vermeer's initial impulse to be a history painter was encouraged by his master, his conversion to Catholicism or the hope of reaping princely commissions in the nearby Hague, he abruptly changed his subject matter and style of painting a few years after becoming a master in the Guild of Saint Luke.
Several factors may have influenced Vermeer's shift from his early ambitions as a history painter. Many of his contemporaries, like Nicolaes Berchem, Aelbert Cuyp, Paulus Potter, and Gabriël Metsu, began as history painters but later specialized in other genres, indicating a broader trend in the art world. Around 1656, Vermeer established relationships with collectors and potential patrons, notably Pieter Claesz van Ruijven and his wife, Maria de Knuijt. Exposure to artists like Gerard ter Borch, who painted trnquil interiors, and Pieter de Hooch, who specialized in domestic scenes, showcased the rising demand for genre pieces over large history paintings. Vermeer's growing fascination with light and optics might have been fueled by Delft's scholarly and scientific community. It's noted that Vermeer's strengths were better suited to serene, introspective scenes rather than extroverted narratives. By 1656, he decided to leave history painting and large formats behind, possibly driven by market trends, personal preference, and a deeper exploration of the sacred within everyday life. Christian Tico Seife, "Early Ambitions: Vermeer’s Journey from Bible to Brothel," in VERMEER, ed. Pieter Roelofs & Gregor Weber, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2023, 132.
Perhaps he came to realize that although he was a talented painter of biblical and mythological scenes, his genius lay in the ability to convey a sense of dignity to images drawn from daily life. Except for the best paintings by Gerrit ter Borch (1617–1681), the intellectual depth and moral resonance of Vermeer's interiors find no parallel in Dutch genre painting.
Vermeer embarked on his career at an auspicious moment. The Dutch economy had surged with the end of the Eighty Years' War with Spain in 1648. The nation's economy would reach its peak within a few short years. Paintings of myriad styles and subject matters were bought and sold in staggering numbers. One historian estimated that from 5 to 10 million paintings were produced in the Gouden Eeuw (Golden Age) of Dutch art. Certainly, the fledgling artist must have known that he was pitting talents against some of the most skilled and highest-paid painters in the Netherlands, many of whom had been invited to work for prestgious European courts. Not only was competition fierce, but an aspiring genre painter also had to be skillful in navigating along the channels that might bring him into contact with elite Liefhebbers van de Schilderkonst (Lovers of the Art of Painting) who were both willing and able to purchase such costly luxury items (paintings of Dou, Ter Borch and Van Mieris could cost from 1,000 to 2,000 guilders—an average Dutch house might be worth 500 guilders). In effect, at that time, art galleries and public collections as we know them today did not exist, and painters were constrained to market their works by themselves.
Vermeer and his Patrons: Pieter van Ruijven and his wife, Maria de Knuijt
In November 1657, Vermeer and his wife Catharina were lent 200 guilders (to be repaid with a 4 1/2% interest) by Pieter Claesz. van Ruijven (1624–1674), a well-to-do Delft burger who was eight years older than Vermeer. Van Ruijven, who was a wealthy brewer's son, owned houses in Delft on the Oude Delft and the Voorstraat. He appears not to have had any other occupation than managing his investments. He married Maria Simonsdr. de Knuijt (1681), 1653. Maria de Knuijt was part of the Dutch Reformed Church while Van Ruijven adhered to a Remonstrant minority, barred from a political career in Delft. The couple probably lived in De Gouden Adelaar (The Golden Eagle), worth the considerable sum of 10,500 guilders. Van Ruijven and De Knuijt's estate was worth 24,829 guilders, making them one of the richest families in Delft.
Although it's been believed that Vermeer's 1657 debt to Van Ruijven and De Knuijt's 1665 bequest might have been related to painting deliveries, the depth of De Knuijt's connection to Vermeer as a primary client has only been recently emphasized. Both De Knuijt and Pieter van Ruijven likely were main patrons of Vermeer. Maria de Knuijt, as the lady of the house, would have been in charge of home furnishing, which included buying paintings. Paintings were seen as household items in the seventeenth century, with buyers often purchasing existing art or commissioning new works. A notebook from the Van Ruijven and De Knuijt household mentioned in their joint will titled "Disposal of my Paintings and other matters" further suggests De Knuijt's role as a collector, but its contents remain unknown. Moreover, De Knuijt, who was once a neighbor of Vermeer, lived a few houses away from the Mechelen inn, owned by her father. Though Maria was nine years older than Johannes Vermeer, she was close in age to his older sister, Gertruy, being only three years apart. Having grown up near the Vermeer family, Maria would have been familiar with the Vermeer siblings, possibly witnessing Johannes's childhood activities and interactions with his sister Gertruy.
Montias suggested that Van Ruijven's loan to Vermeer was an advance towards the purchase of one or more paintings. If this was not the case, chance has it that Van Ruijven and his wife, who could easily afford to buy expensive works of art, thereafter acquired a significant part, perhaps half, of Vermeer's lifelong production, or about twenty of the works. These paintings were later inherited by their daughter Magdalena and her printer husband Jacob Dissius (1653–1695). Both died young and their collection was sold in an Amsterdam auction on May 16, 1696. "The financial independence Vermeer enjoyed, partial and precarious as it was, gave him a greater opportunity to follow his own artistic inclination than most of his fellow members of the Guild, who had to adapt their art to suit market demand. He could paint fewer pictures than he might have had to, had he been forced to support his family exclusively from his art."John Michael Montias,Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989), 172. It seems apparent that Vermeer sold his paintings to a handful of affluent individuals who were capable of recognizing the extraordinary quality of his art, despite the fact that his fame was not nearly as widespread as that of the most renowned Dutch masters of the time. It appears likely that Vermeer's fame did not reach much farther than nearby The Hague or Amsterdam.
It has been speculated that Van Ruijven had modeled himself on his distant cousin Pieter Spiering (c.1594/7–1652, son of the famous tapestry weaver François Spiering), a rich art collector who had first option on the fijnschilder works of Gerrit Dou, the most sought-after Dutch painter of the time. By painting fine interiors for Van Ruijven, Vermeer may have wished to align himself with his patron's ambitious plans for "social rising." Van Ruijven had paid 16,000 guilders, an absolutely astronomical sum, to acquire land near Schiedam that brought with it the title of Lord of Spalant in 1669. If one is prone to biographical speculation, Vermeer's marriage into a much higher social level might be viewed as a part of a strategy to elevate his social and economic standing.
There is no indication that either Van Ruijven or his wife directly influenced the artist's choice of subject or style, although it is not out of the question. In the 1650s there already existed a strong market for exquisitely painted scenes of modern life. Nonetheless, Vermeer's pictures that ended up in the hands of the van Ruijven/De Knuit collection may be seen as a reflection of the painter's move upmarket, towards more sophisticated, burgerlijk (burgher-like) subject-matter. Many of the leisured young women in these pictures look more Oude Delft, where the Van Ruijvens resided, than humbler Voldersgracht. The Lord of Spalant's wife Maria and daughter Magdalena may have set the tone and even modeled for Vermeer.Anthony Bailey, Vermeer: A View of Delft (New York: Holt Paperbacks, 2002), 98-99.
Unfortunately, Van Ruijven would die three years earlier than Vermeer. After 350 years, the burgher's name is no longer confused among those of the many well-to-do Dutch of the time. Van Ruijven and his wife also owned works by the church painters Emanuel de Witte (1617–1692) and Simon de Vlieger (c. 1601–1653), two other painters who belonged to the so-called School of Delft.
The close relationship between Van Ruijven, his wife, and Vermeer is further demonstrated by a conditional bequest of 500 guilders to Vermeer in the testament of De Knuijt in 1665 (Vermeer's wife and children were not eligible if the painter predeceased them). Bequests to members outside one's family were a rarity. Van Ruijven also witnessed the testament of Vermeer's sister Gertruy in 1670.
Sometime in the mid-1660s, Vermeer painted his first genre interiors which in appearance have nothing to do with his inaugural history paintings or the boisterous Procuress.
A Maid Asleep
Vermeer's first surviving domestic interior is the Maid Asleep(fig. 1), a view of a young maid who is either drunk, asleep, or suffering from melancholy. It is also the first painting to have entered into Van Ruijven's collection. Neither the theme nor the composition of the picture were not original. The composition can be easily traced to specific works of single-figure type of interiors pioneered by Nicolaes Maes (1634–1693) such as, A Young Woman Sewing (1655) and The Idle Servant (1655) (fig. 2). The Idle Servant supplied the budding painter with the young woman whose sleepy head is supported by her arm, the see-through doorway, and perhaps the warm palette dominated by comforting reds and browns, immediately abandoned by Vermeer after this picture.
In the Maid Asleep, every trace of technical bravado so conspicuously apparent in the Christ in the House of Martha and Mary has for some reason, evaporated. From a technical point of view, the surface of the canvas appears somewhat clogged. Modeling is labored and contours are tired, although the unattractive woolen effect of some key passages may owe to the work's modest state of conservation. The maid's fingers that are propped on the table are timidly rendered. The design on the flat surface of the carpet is confusing and the lion-head finials perched on top of the empty chair to the right lack sufficient definition. The lighting scheme is unusually erraticJudging by the fall of the soft shadows of the girl's face and figure we must assume that an open window was located more or less directly behind the viewer's shoulders where cool daylight filters in from above. However, the piece of clothing (?) which hangs between the Cupid and the door projects a shadow to its right which indicates a light source located outside the picture to the left-hand side of the painting. The soft shadow on the left-hand side of the white wine pitcher seems to indicate yet a third source of light somewhere to the right-hand side of the painting. While the rectangular background piece of white-washed wall behind the chair receives a discreet amount of light, the chair itself seems immersed in an inexplicable penumbra. The deep shadows cast on and to the right of the Cupid painting and the map cannot be explained at all. Although not at all impossible in reality, the light which comes from the left hand-side of the picture and rakes across the wall of the background room does not help the viewer interpret the disturbed lighting scheme of the foreground room where the maid sleeps. Perhaps the most attractive notation of light's activity is comprised by the two slender streaks of light paint which magically suggest the semi-gloss surface of the door's wooden frame. (various objects and architectural elements are lit from different directions) and the three-dimensional space, except for the see-through door that opens into another room, is almost as suffocating as the claustrophobic space of The Procuress. Perhaps the painting's most attractive passage is that of two slender streaks of light paint which suggest the soft glint of light on the semi-gloss surface of the door's wooden frame, an effect, however, which seems to have been borrowed from his less talented, but more inventive colleague, Pieter de Hooch.
Clearly, the choice to depict contemporary subject matter in the refined style required Vermeer to rewire his technical, stylistic, and compositional approach to painting.
Despite the shortcomings of A Maid Asleep, the work prepared the young painter for one of his most interesting early works, Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window(fig. 3), which may signal the artist's attention to the innovative Pieter de Hooch, who had settled in Delft and began to develop a new manner of portraying daily life, more objective than Nicolaes Maes. After marrying Jannetje van der Burch in 1654 and joining St. Luke's Guild in 1655, De Hooch may have worked at his brother-in-law Hendrick van der Burgh's studio until 1655. From the mid-1650s, both Vermeer and De Hooch began emphasizing domestic interior scenes in their artworks.
Thematically, the works of Vermeer and De Hoogh revolved around women in their everyday activities, the serenity of indoor domestic spaces, and the nuances of domestic life; both artists were also innovative in their use of linear perspective to render depth and space. Their paintings often showcase detailed architectural elements, furniture, and tiles, adding to the spatial depth of their compositions. Their meticulous attention to details, from fabric textures to intricate tile patterns, underscores their shared passion for capturing the minutiae of daily life. After relocating to Amsterdam around 1660, De Hooch continued painting scenes reminiscent of his Delft period, and it is possible that his works continued to influence those of Vermeer.
In essence, while it is hard to determine a direct influence without solid evidence, the fact that both worked in Delft during similar periods suggests that Pieter de Hooch and Johannes Vermeer may have shared a mutual artistic environment, each potentially influencing and drawing inspiration from the other.
Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window
Despite the faulty composition of the Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window—the young girl is sunk too low on the picture plane—the sacramental dignity of the slender young figure makes it one of Vermeer's most poetic inventions. One art historian justly nominated it the most "beautifully imperfect"Walter Liedtke, Vermeer: The Complete Paintings (New Haven and London: Harry N. Abrams, 2008), 71. picture in Vermeer's oeuvre.
Unlike the majority of Vermeer's paintings, art scholars have had difficulties in uncovering a prototype for the Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window. The minuscule, hyper-detailed pictures of Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) are occasionally summoned to explain the single, standing-women motif (fig. 4), but Van Mieris' exasperated illusionism seems, in respects to Vermeer's broad manner, as an end in itself. However, the apparent tranquility of Vermeer's scene fails to suggest the momentous technical and intellectual struggle that was necessary to have brought such an ambitious work to completion. X-ray images reveal numerous major and minor alterations made during the painting process including the removal of a huge ebony-framed Cupid (which would eventually appear in two later works), the change of position of the girl's head, which originally looked away from the viewer, and the addition of the green trompe-l'œil curtain which conceals a large Roemer glass placed on the foreground table. Some critics have speculated that the young woman in profile, who resembles other women in Vermeer's paintings, was Vermeer's wife, Catharina. Having finally discovered his true "calling," the artist proceeded to slowly paint one masterwork after another.
Breakthrough: The Milkmaid and Officer and Laughing Girl
In the late 1650s, Vermeer painted two small, intensely colored pictures: the Officer and Laughing Girl and The Milkmaid(fig. 5). While both are set in the left-hand corner of a room, they immediately stand apart from the somber A Maid Asleep and Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window for the cool, exceptionally vibrant light that bursts in through the window instilling life into all it meets, both figures and inanimate objects.
The theme of the Officer and Laughing Girl (fig. 6) is based on the popular Dutch guardroom motif in which military men are depicted engaged in gaming, drinking, rebel-rousing, or bothering young women. Perhaps Vermeer's composition is based on Gerrit van Honthorst's saucy bordello scene, The Procuress(fig. 7), but the Delft master has stripped his work of any sort of the motif's traditional low-life implications. Since the model is wearing a blue work apron over her dress (largely hidden in the shadow cast by the table) art historians have suggested that she had been surprised by an impromptu visit by the dashing military man during her morning chores. The window featured in the Officer and Laughing Girl is the same as the window in the Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window. While the map in the painting has been subject to various interpretations, it could also serve primarily as a compositional filler with an aesthetic rather than a symbolic function.
fig. 7 The Procuress
Gerrit van Honthorst
1625
Oil on panel, 71 x 104 cm.
Centraal Museum, Utrecht
Camera Obscura
While no historical evidence confirms Vermeer's use of the camera obscura—a rudimentary photographic camera fitted with a lens but lacking film—the forced perspective, high contrast, and globular quality of reflections and highlights in his work have led most art historians to believe that he likely used this device as a painting aid. Although painters of the period were apparently aware of the camera, it has been closely associated mainly with Vermeer and Johannes van der Beeck (1589–1644) also known as Johannes Torrentius. Although Torrentius may have used the camera obscura as an aid to painting—only one such painting (fig. 8) has survived—contemporary documents suggest he may have desired to keep it secret.
The debate over Vermeer's use of the camera obscura extended from the early years of Vermeer studies until the early 2000s. It was Philip Steadman's publication, 'Vermeer's Camera,' that tipped the scales in favor of Vermeer having used the device.
Steadman emphasized two principal uses to which Vermeer could have put his camera. "The first was as an aid to composition. The camera is a device…which collapses a scene into a flat picture onto a luminous screen. Vermeer would have set out his pieces of furniture and positioned his sitters in some provisional arrangement, chosen a viewpoint, set up his camera, and studied the resulting image on the camera's screen. He would have gone on to make adjustments to the positions of furniture and viewpoint, and alterations to the models' poses, always judging the consequences for his composition by reference to the optical image, until he was finally satisfied. He composed, that is to say, with the objects and human figures themselves—much like a studio photographer or a filmmaker. His second use of the camera would have been to trace detail and obtain accurate perspective outlines."Philip Steadman, "Vermeer's Camera: afterthoughts, and a reply to critics," http://www.vermeerscamera.co.uk/reply5.htm. Whether one believes that Vermeer employed the camera obscura methodically, occasionally, or never at all, the serious anomalies in anatomy, perspective, illumination, and proportion in Vermeer's first paintings disappeared as if by magic.
The Milkmaid, one of Vermeer's most powerful works executed when the artist was only in his mid-twenties, is kindred in both spirit and vigor to the Officer and Laughing Girl and must have been painted long before or after it. Despite the work's traditional title (milkmaids actually milk cows) the painting shows a kitchen maid in a plain room carefully pouring milk into an earthenware container (now commonly known as a "Dutch oven"). The stale bread, which lies in broken chunks on the vivid green tablecloth, is presumably, together with the milk that issues from the stoneware jug, an ingredient for making simple bread pudding. The picture's exceptional illusionistic impact, minute details and sympathetic treatment of the humble kitchen maid made the picture highly appraised in Vermeer's time and today. Never again did Vermeer portray a member of the lowly working class. Some critics have speculated that the woman who posed as the kitchen maid was a certain Tanneke Everpoel, probably employed as a maid in the Thins household. In 1663, years after The Milkmaid was painted, Tanneke would testify to a notary on behalf of Maria Thins.
Scenes of Haute Bourgeoisie Life
Immediately after the two breakthrough works mentioned above, Vermeer channeled his creative energies toward to a completely new and broader type of picture, such as the Girl Interrupted at Music, The Girl with a Wine Glass(fig. 9) and The Glass of Wine. All three of these complex scenes represent a moment of restrained courtship. In two of them, music-making is a subtheme. The figures and furniture that are placed in the middle ground of a deep, box-like space arrangement of windows and other elements create, as Walter Liedtke points out, a "self-sufficient" image.Walter Liedtke, ed., exh. cat. Vermeer and the Delft School (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001), 158.
In the Girl with a Wine Glass, the most carefully contrived on the three works, the artist employed various means to enhance the sense of spatial recession: overlap, one-point perspective, sharp, and blurred contours, and variations in color saturation—brighter colors which seem nearer to the viewer's eye are reserved for the foreground figures while the background figures are depicted with drab greens and browns. The small ochre and blue ceramic tiles of the Girl with a Wine Glass and The Glass of Wine betray problems in perspective, which were soon replaced by the wider and more "manageable" black and white marble floor tiles typical of the artist's subsequent interiors. The annotations of the chips and cracks of the ceramic tiles suggest that they were observed from life, perhaps in Vermeer's house, while the elegant marble tiles are almost certainly the fruit of artistic license. Due to their expense (marble had to be imported) and impracticality, marble floorings were rarely found in private homes, and then only in entranceways or corridors where they could be optimally appreciated by guests. Simple wood- planked floors were preferred by both the rich and humble for domestic use because they naturally insulated the Dutchmen's feet against the long gelid winter cold. Unlike Pieter de Hooch (1629–1684), Vermeer always set the floor tiles obliquely to the background wall, presumably in order to temper the strong recessional effect of perpendicularl tiles when created with one-point perspective.
The left-hand corner of the room of these three interiors was certainly inspired by De Hooch's luminous interiors of Delft middle-class life such as The Visit(fig. 10) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This compositional model had already been experimented in other parts of Southern Holland but nowhere, except in the works of De Hooch, had space and the transient effects of daylight and naturalness of everyday gesture been married so happily.
The intense coloring and relatively uneven surface of the Glass of Wine connect it with the earlier Milkmaid and Officer and Laughing Girl while the Girl Interrupted in her Music and Girl with the Wine Glass are painted differently, with thin layers of paint. The gossamer surfaces and continuous modeling of the latter works recall the interiors of Ter Borch and Van Mieris rather than De Hooch's detailed but comparatively roughly painted Delft interiors. Importantly, the first signs of a strict geometrical order appear and will become a dominant concern until the end of the painter's short career. The tactile and sculptural qualities of Vermeer's early canvases are abandoned: form is no longer created via pictorial analogy or textural description but it is suggested with subtle shifts in tone and hue.
It is almost certain that Vermeer's early haute-bourgeoisie interiors do not reflect the artist's real living conditions—Vermeer's home was full of children, cribs, and an assertive mother-in-law—yet are artfully contrived mise-en-scène, an d are intended to appeal to a restricted market of affluent and sophisticated clients. Historians have shown that middle-class Dutch homes were typically much darker and far more cluttered than are the pristine interiors of Vermeer.
The Little Street
It is likely that Vermeer painted The Little Street, and another lost street scene, some years before the last three interiors. It has been conjectured that it represents a view from the first story of the backside of Mechelen overlooking the canal on Voldersgracht. Many critics connect this work with the quietism of the Delft courtyard scenes (fig. 11) pioneered by De Hooch.
Unlike De Hooch, Vermeer, who would father 15 children in all before his death, never painted children except for the two figures playing quietly on the cobblestone sidewalk in the The Little Street.
Much has been written about Vermeer's models but nothing is really known about them. Most appear to be well behaved, cultured and in their mid twenties or early thirties. The heads of the four tronies are depicted so simply that the models could be either adolescents or young adults. No old women, men, or domestic animals are ever pictured (a dog originally stood back to the viewer looking through the open doorway of the A Maid Asleep but was painted out by the artist). All the figures in Vermeer's interiors hold poses that we would not expect to change quickly. It is principally through the figures' discreet gestures, rather than facial expressions, that we gain access, albeit limited, to their emotions and thoughts. Many writers claim that some of the women in Vermeer's pictures are in an advanced state of pregnancy while art historians are more cautious. Pregnant women were never portrayed in any type of Dutch painting, even in portraits of young married couples where pregnancy would appear to be statistically probable.
The relationship between De Hooch and Vermeer has been the source of considerable debate among art historians. It was initially assumed that De Hooch had exerted influence on Vermeer's work, but this verdict has been partially overturned, although it seems evident that the relationship was beneficial for both. Vermeer borrowed compositional motifs from the more inventive De Hoogh, while Vermeer may have stimulated De Hooch to improve his draftsmanship, perspective, and application of paint. Certainly in a small town such as Delft, the two painters, who both belonged to the Guild of Saint Luke, could not have ignored each other's work.
Little is known about Vermeer's civic or private life in these years. One of the few documents that refers to his life comes from the registry of the Oude Kerk in Delft and is dated December 27, 1660. It states laconically that a child of "Johannes Vermeer on the Oude Langendijk" was buried in a family tomb in the Oude Kerk (previously purchased by Maria Thins). At the time, Vermeer and his wife, who lived in his mother-in-law's spacious house, had three or four children, probably all girls.
It is not known exactly when Vermeer and his wife moved into Maria Thins' spacious house on Oude Langendijk, practically a stone's throw away on the other side of the Market Square; we know only that the burial record mentioned above confirms that he was living there by 1660. Some have suggested that Maria Thins would not have accepted the relatively poor and Protestant painter as a member of her patrician household, and that the young couple perhaps rented rooms somewhere before 1660.
Historically, art historical literature has claimed that Vermeer and his family resided in the large Serpent house at the east corner of the Molenpoort and Oude Langendijk, owned by Maria Thins. However, recent in-depth archival research by Hans Slager indicates that Vermeer's family actually lived in the smaller Trapmolen house (fig. 12) on the west corner. The Serpent house, visually represented in the "Kaart Figuratief" mapThe "Kaart Figuratief" refers to a detailed, bird's-eye view map of the city of Delft in the Netherlands. Created between 1675 and 1678, it offers an illustrative representation of the city, capturing its layout, buildings, canals, streets, and other significant features. This map is particularly valuable for historians and researchers because it provides insight into the city's structure and appearance during the late 17th century. from the late 1670s, was an unusually large property with unique features, including a notable seven fireplaces. This significant number of fireplaces related to the former functions of the houe as a malt house and inn. The Serpent house was later demolished in phases and replaced by the Maria van Jessekerk. The common belief that the Serpent house was Vermeer's residence stems from the assumption that it was owned by "Jan Tin," thought to be Jan Geensz Thins, Maria Thins's cousin. However, Slager's research revealed that this belief is flawed. It turns out the actual house Jan Geensz Thins purchased in 1641 was not the corner building but a different address nearby. Moreover, 1667 tax records show that Pieter van der Dussen, from a prominent Delft Catholic family, was the actual owner of the Serpent house, debunking the long-held belief about Vermeer's residence.
The first detailed depiction of the Trapmolen buildingThe house may have been extensively renovated quite recently, but the layout of the house appears to be largely the same as in Vermeer's time. There is still an 'indoor kitchen' on the ground floor with a chimney (rug), bellows, ash racks and a box bed. Here also a Frisian clock and lots of kitchen crockery. There is also a cellar, which the current owner told Slager that his predecessor had to close due to moisture problems. A number of 17th century Delft blue tiles were rescued from the cellar in advance and used as decoration elsewhere in the house. In 1801 we found wine racks, an egg rack and a remarkable amount of table cutlery in the cellar. There are also a few spittoons for spitting chewing tobacco. The upstairs front room, where Vermeer's studio was located in 1675, now contains a 'drop-leaf table' (with a fold-out table top), five chairs, a bedstead and a wardrobe. From: "Oude Langendijk 25," Achter de gevels van Delft, Kees van der Wiel, with contributions from Hans Slager and Wim Weve. is from an 1858 image by Leiden lithographer Christiaan Bos. (fig. 13) The illustration highlights notable architectural features, such as two chimneys, windows, a billboard on the Molenpoortsteeg, and the front door's central position, a common placement in seventeenth-century architectural design. Historical records dating back to1600 provide additional insights into the building's characteristics.
However, notwithstanding eventual initial reservations, Vermeer must have proven his trustworthiness via his conversion to Catholicism, a choice not without consequences, immediately before or after his marriage to Maria's daughter. "Furthermore, until she had her abusive son Willem confined to a house of correction in the 1660s (at a cost of 310 guilders a year) Maria Thins was remarkably tolerant of her son's hostile behavior. This suggests that she would not have punished her only other surviving child, Catharina, by keeping her and her new husband out of the large house on the Oude Langendijk. On the contrary, Maria Thins must have been cautiously supportive of the decent young man, about whom not a single negative remark is recorded apart from debts."Walter Liedtke, ed., exh. cat. Vermeer and the Delft School (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001), 149.
There is no indication that Vermeer ever traveled farther from Delft than Amsterdam. The idea that he had traveled to Italy has been proven unfounded.
The Pearl Pictures
In the early- and mid-1660s Vermeer executed five small canvases eloquently named the "pearl pictures," as named by Lawrence Gowing, which are among the artist's most lucidly conceived yet enigmatic works: Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter(fig. 14), Woman Holding a Balance, Woman with a Lute and Woman with a Pearl Necklace. These works are, remarkably enough, more noteworthy for their naturalistic qualities than his works of the late 1650s, in large part because even their most striking passages are subordinated to the impression made by the whole.Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., "Any literal description of such deceptively simple works can in no way prepare the viewer for the singularity these images," in exh. cat. Johannes Vermeer, eds. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and Ben Broos (London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995), 134.
The subject matter of the pearl pictures is restricted to a single woman who momentarily engages in some discreet activity in a left-hand corner of a room, very near a window, sometimes in view,sometimes not. While persistent iconographical interpretations seem to have successfully illuminated the story behind the Woman with a Balance, the other works have largely resisted interpretative attempts. Nonetheless, a common theme that unites the women's activities might be that of thoughtful reflection.
Even by Vermeer's standards, the scenes of the pearl pictures are organized with exceptional economy utilizing as props only a table, a meager still life, a map or painting on the background wall and one or two chairs (infrared reflectograms reveal that the original version of Woman with a Pearl Necklace once displayed a large wall map behind the standing girl, later painted out). All the scenes are staged against a simple, whitewashed wall set parallel to the picture plane. The particular chromatic and tonal values of the walls are key to establishing the direction, intensity, and temperature of the incoming light. Despite their deceptively unproblematic appearance, Vermeer's walls constitute an unsung technical tour de force.
Two paintings of the same size in The National Gallery,A Lady Standing at a Virginal and A Lady Seated at a Virginal. London, are believed by some, including Walter Liedtke, to have been created by Vermeer as pendants—pieces that complement each other but can also stand alone. While some scholars doubt they were made as a pair and suggest different creation dates for each, Brown places both around 1670 but questions their relationship as pendants. Wheelock cortends that they were created at different times between 1672-1675 and argues against them being a pair. Liedtke, on the other hand, argues that the paintings are complementary in their themes, and any stylistic differences are intentional to highlight the contrasting characters of the women portrayed. This viewpoint has gained acceptance and even led to one of the paintings being reframed in 2001 to match the other.Walter Liedtke, The Complete Works (London: Abrams, 2008), 170.
Violence
A sense of unspeakable serenity and balance reign over each of the pearl pictures. This achievement is all the more significant when we remember that in those years the artist's family life was probably filled with trauma. A glimpse of the hardship is revealed by a succinct notorial deposition made in 1663 by Gerrit Cornelisz., stone carver, and Tanneke Everpoel. Tanneke stated the following,
"That on various occasions Willem Bolnes [Maria Thins, jobless and irascible son] had created a violent commotion in the house—to such an extent that many people gathered before the door—as he swore at his mother, calling her an old popish swine, a she-devil, and other such ugly swear words that, for the sake of decency, must be passed over. She, Tanneke, also saw that Bolnes had pulled a knife and tried to wound his mother with it. She declared further that Maria Thins had suffered so much violence from her son that she dared not go out of her room and was forced to have her food and drink brought the. Also that Bolnes committed similar violence from time to time against the daughter of Maria's, the wife of Johannes Vermeer, threatening to beat her on diverse occasions with a stick, notwithstanding the fact that she was pregnant to the last degree."John Michael Montias, Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989), 161.
Tanneke added that she was able to prevent some of the violence herself. Another witness, Willem de Coorde, declared that on various occasions he had stopped Bolnes from entering the house and "several times thrust at his sister with a stick at the end of which there was an iron pin." As early as 1653 Willem was already making trouble calling on Maria Thins to lend him money. Maria's sister, Cornelia, had disinherited Willem in a last testament made shortly before she died in1641. After years of hesitation, Maria Thins had her son committed to a house of correction, and at least a semblance of domestic peace returned to the Vermeer household. Willem later escaped the house of correction with a maid with whom he had become sexually involved promising to marry her when he was free. Willem was later caught and he seems to have repented. No evidence has survived regarding how the painter had reacted to the spiraling violence; this seemingly apparent incoherency should warn us that the personal affairs of an artist may be very remote from the art he produces.
The Music Lesson and The Concert
Sometime in the 1660s, perhaps after the three box-like interiors and before the pearl pictures, Vermeer painted two of his most ambitious interiors, The Music Lesson(fig. 15) and The Concert(fig. 16). A number of Delft interior and church paintings dating from the early 1660s feature forced perspectives although the trend was not only limited to Delft but extended to Rotterdam, Dordrecht, and Antwerp. Both pictures have posed many interpretative problems to art historians, and some consider them a pendant, although the paint handing is different enough to suggest they were painted years apart; the compositional failings of The Concert are evident when it is compared side by side to its "companion," one of the artist's most original artistic statements.
A sequence of objects on the right-hand half of The Music Lesson lead the viewer from the foreground table into the cavernous depth of space, each one overlapping the other. The inscription on the lid of the virginal, MUSICA LETITIAE CO[ME]S / MEDICINA DOLOR[IS], means "Music is a companion in pleasure and a balm in sorrow." It suggests that it is the relationship between the man and the young woman that is being explored by the artist, but the current stage of that relationship is unclear. A painting of Roman Charity in the ebony frame to the extreme right of the composition, in which the Cimon is pictured bound in chains, may allude to the gentleman captivated by the smartly dressed virginal player. The Roman Charity was likely the work described as "A painting of one who sucks the breast" cited in the list of Maria Thins' belongings.
In 1662, on Saint Luke's Day, Guild members, from various crafts, convened to elect their officials for the upcoming year. Six nominees, representing different crafts, were proposed, from which the town's leaders selected three headmen. Vermeer was among those elected. At around the ager of thirty, Vermeer became one of the youngest to assume this position since the Guild's reformation in 1613. This election underscored the esteem he held among his peers, although many talented painters from the previous decade had either passed away or left town, leaving behind mostly mediocre talents. While Vermeer's youth made his appointment notable, the diminished competition made it less surprising. His Catholic faith did not hinder him, as other Catholic painters had held office in the past.John Michael Montias."Chronicle of a Delft Family." in Vermeer, edited by Albert Blankert, Gilles Aillaud, and John Michael Montias, (Woodstock and New York: Overlook Duckworth, 2007), 51.
On November 12, 1663, Vermeer was listed as an outgoing (second-year) headman of the Guild of Saint Luke in Delft. The incoming headman was Anthonie Palamedesz (1601–1673), a successful painter of interiors in Delft. In an inventory drawn up for the English sculptor who lived in The Hague, "a head by Vermeer" by Jean Larson was listed "a head by Vermeer."
The city of Delft is born beside a canal, the Delf, a term which derives from the Dutch word "delven," meaning to "delve " or "dig." Or it may come from "Court of Delft:' the name of the body that administered the farmlands near the canal. Delft's establishment as one of the Netherlands' oldest cities is uniquely due to its geography. Unlike many Dutch cities that developed around waterways, Delft was situated in a reclaimed land area, characterized by an irregular pattern of water channels leading to the Maas River. Over time, the land where Delft was founded accumulated sand and clay, creating a stable foundation for stone construction. While initially at a lower elevation, the city's ground level rose above the surrounding farmlands due to the soil's compaction as the land was drained by canals.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, Delft is situated near three significant powers: the count of Holland, the count of Flanders, and the prince-bishop of Utrecht. The count of Holland, whose lineage traced back to vassals of the German emperor around 950 in northern Holland, often played a dominant and ambitious role. The count of Flanders is a vassal to the French king, while the prince-bishop of Utrecht, though politically weaker, has ecclesiastical jurisdiction that included Delft. Conflicts among these authorities are frequent.
After conquering Holland, around 1075, Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine (c. 997–1069) establishes his manor on an elevated point where the Delf crosses the creek wall of the silted-up Gantel creek system (the largest tidal creek during the Late Iron Age and Roman period). While the land around Delft is good for grazing and for cultivating grains, the abundance of running water in the city will eventually allow two major industries to flourish: textile manufacturing and beer brewing. However, the combination of these two industries will also cause problems. The textile industry pollutes Delft's clean water, which is an essential ingredient for beer.
Around 1100, the Oude Delft is dug up in order to widen a section of the Gantel creek system and drain the surrounding land. When a second canal is dug parallel to the Delf at the end of the 12th century, the names Oude Delft and Nieuwe Delft are given to them (the latter nowadays bears successively the street named Lange Geer, Koornmarkt, Wijnhaven, Hippolytusbuurt, and Voorstraat). The land between the Oude Delft and Nieuwe Delft is raised with clay during the digging of the Nieuwe Delft. The remaining sandy ridge between the two canals is firm enough for driving the poles to build houses on.
This forms the basis of the city
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. In the Golden Age, this higher-lying land in the center of the swampy city becomes a popular place to live for wealthy merchants. Many mansions, often the status of national monument, are still found on the Oude Delft. From a rural village Delft develops into a small city. Delft becomes an important market town, proven by the size of its central market square.
In 1200, the Stadhuis (City Hall) is built. It survives various expansions and renovations in the 1500s, and the city fire in 1536.
The oldest known brewery in The Netherlands, Heilige Geestkerkhof, dates to 1210.
In the 13th century, the Vliet waterway between Delft and The Hague is already heavily trafficked. In theory it is possible to sail from the north end of Delft all the way to Leiden. From there one could travel to Haarlem and Amsterdam via the Haarlemmermeer, or to Utrecht via the Oude Rijn. But there is an important obstacle in between them: the Leidschendam, over which larger ships have to transfer their cargo to barges on the other side. Moreover, the owners of the dam demand a fee.
On April 15, 1246, Count Willem II of Holland (1227–1256) grants Delft its city charter extending basic rights of self-government to the approximately 1,400 people living there, marking the official beginning of the city. Shortly thereafter, he communicates with the town's Magistrates and Citizens regarding the building of city defenses, involving land from the "Court of Delft." This implies that Delft had an organized administrative system and may have been granted city rights earlier. This organized system is also indicated by a document from about forty years prior, wherein Count Willem I referenced Delft's taxation system when conferring rights to the Egmond abbey. Trade and industry continue to flourish.
Delft is then composed of three original grachten (inner-city canals)In the same years The Hague is small village
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now called the Oude Delft, Nieuwe Delft, and the Braantse Turftmarkt, Burgwal, and Verwersdijk. The charter exempts Delft's citizens from paying tolls in Willem's county, which gives a huge boost to trade. More importantly, the Delft residents will have a large degree of self-government in the field of regulations and law. The bailiff and seven aldermen may issue ordinances and try transgressions themselves. Initially, this city law only applies to the area of the Nieuwe Delft, which is the canal along the current Koornmarkt, Wijnhaven, Hippolytusbuurt, and Voorstraat. In 1268, the residents along the Oude Delft receive the same privileges.
A weekly market is mentioned in city law as early as 1246. It is held at "Marktveld," and to this day—know as Markt or Market Square— takes place on the same day and in the same place. It is operated by or on behalf of Count Willem II of Holland, whose stewards collect money from the merchants who sell their wares there. The Count also owns the weigh house, the cloth hall and other buildings that are crucial to the economy of Delft. As the name suggests, Marktveld (market + field) was not paved, and since the terrain is relatively low, rain must have turned it into a plain of mud.
In 1246, the Oude Kerk (Old Church) is founded as St. Bartholomew's Church on the site of previous churches dating back up to two centuries earlier. The tower with its central spire and four corner turrets is added between 1325–1350. In the same year the June market of Delft begins.
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The Count's permission specifies an exact distance from the Oude Delft between the Dirklangensteeg (then the Arnoudt Snemenbrug) and the Binnenwatersloot. Its eastern limit later becomes the bank of the singel, or outer moat.
As far back as the Middle Ages, streets in Delft are indicated by names to make it easy to find a particular house or its resident. The oldest known street name of Delft is Oude Delft, which already appears in a document from 1268. For centuries names rise and disappear by themselves. Everyday usage determines a street's name: soil conditions (think of the Rietveld); shape (Bree street); age (Oude and Nieuwe Langendijk) of an important building (Gasthuislaan, Oude Kerkstraat); activity (Voldersgracht, Verwersdijk, Smitsteeg) or a well-known resident (Dirklangenstraat, Harmenkokslaan, Jacob Gerritstraat).
In 1286, the Bagijnhof is founded by a group of lay religious women who lived in community without taking vows or retiring from the world, called beguines. Since Bagijnhof is privately owned the beguines are allowed to continue to live there after the Reformation takes hold of Delft, when all the Catholic monasteries present in the city will be destroyed or closed.. The Bagijnhof later becomes a stronghold of Roman Catholicism with two schuilkerken (secret churches).
Around 1300, an outer moat is dug as part of Delft's defenses.
Around 1300, a dam, called the Leytsche Dam, is constructed in the Vliet between Delfland and Rijnland to protect Delft against flooding, as part of the Sijtwende (flood defense). Unfortunately, it—the polder level in Rijnland is on average about 1 meter higher than that in Delfland—also has a negative effect because it prevents Delft from building a direct waterway connection to northern cities, such as Leiden, Haarlem, and Amsterdam. It will have a profound influence on the development of the area and will eventually become the cause of many disputes between surrounding cities.
In the 1300s and 1400s, an impressive number of decorated and illuminated manuscripts are produced in Delft.
Although the Zeevisch-Markt (Fish Market) building bears a plaque reading 1342, it is probably not founded in that year. Fish is already a substantial part of the menu for the first inhabitants of Delft, and it had already been traded for centuries in the surrounding areas.
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In 1348, the Voldersgracht and the Langendijk running east-west between the Nieuwe Delft gracht and the Oosteinde gracht complete the delineation of Markt Plein (Market Square) balanced on either end by the Stadhuis and the Nieuwe Kerk.
On January 1, 1350, the tower of Oude Kerk is completed, but it already leans. While the construction continues the builders attempt to compensate and straighten the inclination of the bell tower floor by floor. Today only the spires alone are truly straight. At the time, the 75-meters high tower dominated the surrounding landscape until it is overcome in the 1600s by the construction of the Nieuwe Kerk. Citizens of Delft affectionately refer to the church as Oude Jan (Old Jan ) or Scheve Jan (Crooked Jan).
In 1355, Willem V of Holland (1350-1389) grants the citizens of Delft permission to build bulwarks of earth around the area that the city had the rights to administer. The bulwarks are made from sand, clay, and silt accumulated when the waterways were dug. They are topped by stone and brick walls. The wide waterway ringing the bulwarks becomes known as the singel (belt). It is soon followed by completion of the first two city gates at the north and south end of the Oude Delft, the only navigable waterways into and out of the growing city. By this year
Delft had the same boundaries and inner waterways that it would have three hundred years later
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In 1381, construction of the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) begins, following a miraculous appearance of the Virgin in 1381. Initially the church is built of wood. Three years later, construction begins in stone, in Gothic style, which will be completed in 1430. Construction of the stone tower continues for a century, between 1396 and 1496. When finished, it is 109 meters high. The nave and aisles are finished in the 1430s, the choir in 1476. The name of the architect is unknown. The original stained glass windows are destroyed in the 16th and 17th centuries.
In 1389, the city of Delft receives permission from Albert I, Duke of Bavaria (German; 1336–1404), the feudal ruler of Holland, to dig its own connection between the Schie and the Merwede (nowadays the Maas River), which provides an outlet to the Atlantic Ocean. During these years, Delft heavily depends on trade, especially the export of dairy and beer to Brabant, Zeeland, and Flanders; delays in shipping prove disastrous for such perishable goods. Additionally, raw materials must be imported to keep the local economy thriving. At the point where the canal crossed Schielands Hoge Zeedijk, Delft founds its own harbor: Delfshaven. Until then, ships had to sail to or from Delft, through Rotterdam or Schiedam. However, this route is winding, and inter-city conflicts sometimes close the vital passage of goods. When the canal is finished, Delft is able to send and receive seafaring vessels and avoid tolls levied by Rotterdam. In the same year, Duke Albrecht I establishes an elected water board. The project takes years to realize. But the canal is an enormous and complicated undertaking. Part of the Schie, from Delft to Overschie, could be used for the canal system, but some parts have to be dug. Land has to be purchased from many different owners; digging is done by hand. Quays are built on both sides of the canal, and a settlement is built at the mouth.
In 1394, Duke Albrecht I gives the citizens of Delft permission to build a new city wall.
In 1396, the construction of the Schiedam and Rotterdam Gates begins. It will take until after 1514 before they are completed.
Marktveld is shortened by approximately 34 meters to accommodate the construction of the Nieuwe Kerk.
Due to the scarcity of wood, from the 15th century the Netherlands is largely dependant on veer (peat) for or fuel. Peat is formed when dead plant material—especially from mosses—accumulates over time. When compressed and dried, it becomes turf, which makes an excellent fuel that burns slow and heats well without much smoke. The demand for peat in Delft is so intense that the surrounding countryside is unable to meet it, being as it is indispensable for energy supply; from domestic use to baker's ovens. Moreover, in Delft the most important economic sectors, brewery, and pottery, are huge energy guzzlers. Tons of peat have to be brought in by ship. By the end of the 19th century, peat is replaced by coal.
At the end of the 14th century, the Meisjeshuis is founded by well-known Delft resident. The building is initially called Heilige-Geestzustershuis (Holy Spirit Sister House), in which nurses take care of sick people. In 1587, it is transformed into an orphanage for poor girls. The orphanage has workshops and learning quarters where girls study religion, crafts, cooking, and mathematics.
Around 1400, the Oostpoort (Eastern Gate) is built. It is the only remaining gate of the old city walls. Around 1510, the towers are enhanced with an additional octagonal floor and high spires. At this time, Delft has around 6,500 inhabitants.
By the 1400s, the shape of the binnenstad, or inner city, of Delft comprises everything within the surrounding moat, which is wider than the canals inside the city. The city is roughly rectangular, about 1.6 km long and 0.8 km wide. The inner sides of the city's protective embankments are made of earth and a brick wall covered with thorn bushes. A number of windmills stand even taller than the embankments' towers, providing clear views of the surrounding countryside. Four of the gates are situated at the ends of major inter-city canals. For tax purposes, the city is divided into sixteen districts; for defensive purposes, four districts. The city gates are not open day and night. When dusk falls, the large doors are locked and cannot be opened again until sunrise. On Sundays and public holidays, the gates are closed during the sermon so that peace in the city is not disturbed. Only pedestrians can get in and out via the small door or latch—but no more horses, wagons, or carriages. Gatekeepers, who work in day and night shifts, supervise who enters or leaves the city.
Around 1400, a group of women in Delft chooses a spiritual life and moves from Geerweg to a house on Oude Delft, behind the tower of the Oude Kerk. Shortly afterward, they decide to close themselves off from the outside world as a monastic community to fill their lives with prayer, in absolute obedience to the leader, the mater (mother), without personal belongings and unmarried. They found the Agathaklooster (Convent of Saint Agatha) with the help of wealthy citizens in Delft, adopting the rules of the third order of Saint Francis. In 1402, they are placed under the protection of the Count of Holland, Duke Albert of Bavaria. The Bishop of Utrecht, as the head of Delft's diocese, formally establishes the convent in 1403. The Agathaklooster flourishes in the late 1400s, becoming the richest monastery in Delft and earning the right to house 125 nuns, who mostly come from patrician families. It also receives many distinguished guests in its guesthouse. Eight nuns still live in the cloister in 1607. The last of them is buried in 1640.
Delft pottery originates in the early 1400s. At this moment, very simple pottery is being produced in various places in the Netherlands, in small pottery factories established where clay is found and where there is a good supply of peat or wood for firing the kilns. Initially, the factories are only located in the west of Holland, but later spread throughout the country. To make these simple pottery objects, the clay, which is modeled into the desired shape, is first fired, creating a red/brown finish. Afterward, the objects are sometimes decorated with patterns in contrasting color schemes, with paint made of watery clay or slip. They are then given a transparent lead glaze and fired again to make them watertight and easier to keep clean. This lead glaze is relatively expensive, so the early pieces of pottery are only glazed in areas that could become easily dirty, such as a spout, the bottom, or the inside.
In 1412, a 17-meter strip of Marktveld is given over to serve as a cemetery in front of the Nieuwe Kerk, which stands until the 19th century. This cemetery continued under the market. In 2004, part of the cemetery was examined during an archaeological excavation in front of the entrance to the Nieuwe Kerk. During this investigation, a wall was found near the statue of Hugo de Groot that marked the western boundary of the cemetery. However, this wall was not found in the drainage trench. It now appears that the burials extended much further towards the town hall than this previously discovered boundary. Nothing was yet known about the southern edge of the cemetery. This new research shows that it extended laterally less than 3 meters from the facades of the houses along today's Market Square.
In 1421, significant floo disrups vital overland trade routes to the south of Delft, impacting the economy. During the 1400s, the prosperity of Rotterdam is closely connected to that of Delft, as the smaller and younger city along the Rotte River had recently been connected to Delft by a network of canals.
In 1436, Delft acquires the rights to the Marktveld from Duke Philip of Burgundy. The city council can now decide how the space is used and arranged.
On September 7, 1445, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy (French: 1396–1467), issues a charter (Privilegie) for Delft city fathers, the vroedschap, to appoint the first Veertigraad, a 40-member council of the richest, most honorable, most notable men from regent families to help the schout (sheriff) and schepenen (magistrates) govern the city. The Veertigraad gradually cedes city management to the burgemeesters and pensionaris. Typically, a young man born into a regent family replaces a father or older brother who has died or, after the 1618 reorganization, reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.
In 1484, The Marktveld is paved for the first time, and the well that had always been there disappears. The site is raised by 90 centimeters, using the manure surplus from the surrounding area.
Around 1450, the St. Ursula Monastery is founded. The number of monasteries within the walls of Delft comes to ten, while there are two more outside the city walls: Koningsveld and the Monastery Sion to the north of the city.
In 1470, about 5% of the Delft population lives in monasteries, which occupy about 8% of the urban space.
In 1477, the first Bible in Dutch is published in Delft, and it is much smaller than the Gutenberg Bible, as only the Old Testament is printed. Yet its almost 1,300 pages require publication in two folio volumes. The text is an anonymous adaptation of an—again anonymous—translation. It is the first book to be printed by Jacob Jacobszoon van der Meer and Mauricius Yemantszoon van Middelburg, but the printer-financier relationship between the two is not clear.
In the later part of the 15th century, Haarlem, and Delft developed their own versions of a strong beer imported from Germany. Gouda specialized in a lighter, cheaper beer. Other Dutch towns soon impose excise taxes on beer from Gouda and Delft, just as these towns had done with German beer.
In the 16th century, the reputation of the monasteries among the population declines. Apart from the religious unrest caused by the Reformation movement, many people in Delft feel that there were too many monasteries. During the many years of economic setbacks and famine, people disapprove of the tax benefits that these institutions enjoyed.
Around 1500, there is a religious boom. Delft has two large parish churches, each with dozens of altars. About 150 priests earn a good living performing mass and other ceremonies in the service of the churches, brotherhoods, guilds, or wealthy families.
In 1503, a cult arises in the Oude Kerk in relation to a statue of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. This devotion is stimulated by Duke Philip the Fair, who hopes to promote the sentiment of unity in the Netherlands by means of a "national" cult for the Virgin Mary. In Delft, the principal protagonist is Dirck Adamszoon van der Burch, vice-pastor of the Oude Kerk. He reports in letters to the court which miracles had occurred and how devotion had thrived. Pilgrims come from far and wide to partake in special masses, sermons, and processions.
In the 1500s, the municipal government and churches of Delft are more inclined to commission works of art from masters established in other cities than from those active locally. This is largely a consequence of the increasing importance of the Oude Kerk and the Nieuwe Kerk, which require objects grander and more public in nature than those produced by cloistered monks and nuns.
In the 1500s, the authorities and churches in Delft prefer to commission artworks from well-known artists in other cities rather than local talent. This trend is partly due to the prominence of the Oude Kerk and Nieuwe Kerk, which demand art that is more public and monumental than what monastic orders of Delft typically produced or required. Consequently, commissions for significant art pieces like large painted triptychs, sculptural groups, or substantial church furniture tend to go to experienced artists from bigger cities who have a track record of creating such works.
In 1510, the Nieuwe Kerk, which was formerly flanked by two rows of houses that had previously formed the boundary of the Marktveld, reaches its definitive size.
In 1514, the population of Delft is 10,700.
Around 1520, the renovation of the Oude Kerk comes to a standstill due to a lack of money. The colossal north aisle of the otherwise austere architecture marks the end of the rich Roman life of the Middle Ages.
On May 3, 1536, a large part of the city is destroyed by the Great Fire of Delft. The fire is said to have been caused by a bolt of lightning that struck the tower of Nieuwe Kerk, although some Delft historians believe this may be confused with another event on Ascension Day in 1441, when lightning struck the still-unfinished tower. An alternative version has it that on the day of the fire there is a strong westerly wind. A farmyard fire on the Buitenwatersloot may have gotten out of hand, and pieces of burning hay, straw, or reed were blown into the air. One house after another catches fire, and the fire spreads quickly eastward, up, and over the city wall. The Oude Kerk catches fire because the roof was then made of thatched hay. Part of the wooden tower burns down, and the organ, bells, and the stained-glass windows are lost. Fanned by a strong east wind, the fire ravages virtually everything west of the Nieuwe Kerk; houses of the time are mainly built with timber. Hundreds of families are forced to leave the city. Delft is rebuilt with stone instead of wood. Only a few buildings standing today pre-date the fire. Before the fire, the majority of the buildings of Delft featured predominantly late Gothic, Renaissance style, or a blend thereof, and substantial building and renovation activities occurred, coinciding with a robust economic expansion. However, these developments are confined within the Medieval city fortifications. This factor renders Delft's development distinctly divergent from that of other cities, such as Amsterdam, where, in the 17th century, suburban districts emerged, characterized by new canal rings.
In 1536, the population of Delft is 15,000.
In 1537, the plague strikes Delft. Over 2,000 people die.
In the 1540s and 1550s, stately houses go up around the Groote Markt (Great Market Square, Markt, or Market) near the Nieuwe Kerk, along the Oude Delft canal, and in other neighborhoods where many dwellings were burned down during the Great Fire. They changed little in plan, but their street facades—or orgevels—in Holland the "gables" rise from the ground—are constructed almost exclusively of stone, in a mixture of Late Gothic and Renaissance styles. The new houses built along tree-lined canals, where Delft’s rich burgers live, prompt the common people to quip: "they sit on cushions and rule the city." In this period, property owners in Delft, including those residing in the wealthier streets on the west side, are more concerned with roofs, walls, and stone facades than with home decoration.
In the second half of the 1500s, Delft’s two major industries—brewing and textile manufacturing—declined sharply, primarily because of competition from other towns and a spirit of free enterprise that did away with medieval systems of protecting trade. Moreover, the two products are also incompatible, as one polluted and the other required clean water. A number of other occupations, such as spinning, weaving, tailoring, peat-cutting, carting, and shipping, depended on the production of cloth and beer.
Between 1557 and 1558, the plague strikes again. About 6,000 people in Delft, or 20% of the population, die. According to the physician Pieter van Foreest (1521–1597), one of the most prominent physicians of the Dutch Republic, the plague that came to Delft in 1557 originated with the farmers from the surrounding countryside who supplied the town with produce.
From 1558 to 1595, Pieter van Foreest, one of the Netherlands' greatest doctors, served as Delft's doctor. While his colleagues based their practices on theories from classical antiquity, he modernized medical practices, publishing hundreds of case histories and describing in detail treatments and results. The University of Leiden, founded in 1575, engaged him to set up the medical training. He managed to persuade the city council of Delft to draft rules for the practice of medical professions and prevent quackery. He became the personal physician to William of Orange and conducted the investigation after the prince was murdered in 1584.
In 1560, the Vleeshal, or Meat Hall, is constructed. New neighborhoods and other civic buildings made during the early to mid-seventeenth century further contribute to Delft’s distinctive character. Much of the city's attraction for visitors comes from the fact that the squares and canals were bordered by buildings that date mostly from about 1550 to 1650. The population of Delft is 10,700.
In 1566, the Beeldenstor (in Dutch, roughly "image storm" or "statue storm") spreads to Delft, destroying many artworks in public and religious places. The Convent of Saint Agatha, however, is well protected and is spared.
In 1572, William of Orange (Willem van Oranje; 1533–1584) of the House of Orange took up residence in the former Convent of Saint Agatha, today’s Het Prinsenhof. By then, Delft is one of the leading cities of Holland and is equipped with the necessary city walls to serve as a headquarters.
1568–1648: Duration of the Eighty Years' War. Delft is at the time one of the largest and most powerful cities in Holland. Early in the war, Protestant noblemen led by Willem of Orange, who desired to overthrow Spanish rule, styled themselves as Watergeuzen (Sea Beggars). In early July, they make their way north, capturing city by city. By the end of the summer, Delft joins the revolt, which soon includes the six largest cities of Holland: Dordrecht, Haarlem, Delft, Leiden, Gouda. Amsterdam is the last to join.
In 1572, Delft joins the revolt against Spain, and shortly afterward Calvinists take over the parish churches, abolish monasteries, and force priests and monks to renounce their faith or leave the city. Much of the Catholic heritage is destroyed or burned.
In October 1573, an attack by Spanish forces is repelled in the Capture of Delfzijl (The Battle of Delft). The battle is fought by a small Anglo-Dutch force under Thomas Morgan and an attacking Spanish force under Francisco de Valdez (Spanish; 1522?–580?). The Spanish are repelled and forced to retreat. The Spanish lose in all, around 700 men, mostly on the outskirts. Delft, among other Dutch towns and cities, had been saved, and this means that Leiden has a better hope of relief. After his initial attempts, Valdez informs the Duke of Alba of his defeat, showing him that victory could not be achieved without a larger force along with siege artillery. In the same year, The Kolk, which is a canalized watercourse on the south-western corner of the city walls, takes its initial triangular form from a bastion that had been constructed in 1573, when the city fortifications were modernized.
After the Act of Abjuration is proclaimed in 1581, Delft becomes the de facto capital of the newly independent Netherlands, as the seat of the Prince of Orange.
In 1583, the Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, and jurist Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) is born in Delft. He lays the foundations for international law, and his concept of natural law has a strong impact on the philosophical and theological debates and political developments of the 17th and 18th centuries.
During the late 15th century, Delft is home to two notable painters, one of whom is referred to as the Master of the Virgin among Virgins. This anonymous artist, whose designation comes from a particular panel located in Amsterdam, has been linked to Delft through evidence of woodcuts based on his designs. These woodcuts were published by prominent Delft printers, including Jacob van der Meer—renowned for producing the Delft Bible in 1477, which was the first book printed in Dutch—and his successor, Christiaen Snellaert.
On 10 July, 1584, William is shot dead by the Roman Catholic zealot Balthazar Gerards in the Prinsenhof. Since the family's traditional burial place in Breda is still in the hands of the Spanish, he is buried in the Delft Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), inaugurating a tradition for the House of Orange that has continued to the present day. Willem's dream of religious tolerance is short-lived. Violence forces Catholics to give up their place of worship. Roman Catholic churches are seized and sacked. Works of art and liturgical objects that express "Popish idolatry" are destroyed in the iconoclastic fury. Catholics and adherents of other banned religions must resort to hidden and illegal churches in existing buildings. Initially, authorities take action against this phenomenon. Later governments take an increasingly pragmatic stance since it had become clear that a large part of the population would never join the Reformed Church—many government officials embrace the official church only to maintain their job and social position. The use of hidden churches is therefore increasingly tolerated. Around this time, Delft also occupies a prominent position in the field of printing. A number of Italian glazed earthenware makers settled in the city and introduce a new style.
At the end of the 16th century the status of Delft as a military stronghold has declined. By that time, the front gate of the Schiedam is already in ruin, and in 1590-1591, extensive renovations are carried out.
In 1591, Vermeer's father, Reynier Jansz. (c. 1591–1652), is born on Beestenmarkt number 14 in a house called Nassau, in Delft. His parents were the tailor Jan Reyersz., who had moved from Flanders to Delft by 1597 and Cornelia (alias Neeltge Goris, who died 1627). Neeltge Goris is active as uijtdraegster, or a second hand goods dealer, liquidating estates of deceased people. Paintings are frequently part of estates.
In 1592, a citizen of Antwerp, carpet and tapestry weaver François Spierinx (c.1576?-1630?), flees persecution in Antwerp and establishes his business in Delft. Delft offers him the vacant Saint Agnes Convent, near the East Gate, free of charge to stimulate the local tapestry business. Soon, great numbers of "embroiderers" and "tapestry-workers" flock from the South. Richly decorated pieces only appear at the end of the seventeenth century. However, this imported textile industry is only a moderate success. Other than Spierinx, only a few Delft cloth traders become rich. The industry is primarily intended to keep the poorest of the population off the street and offer women and children a meager additional income.
In 1592, Moijses van Nederveen receives permission from the Delft city council to set up a powder mill outside the Waterslootsepoort, just across the border from Delft in Vrijenban, roughly at the location of the current Kogelgieterij. In the powder mill, nitre, sulfur, and coal are mixed with horsepower to form gunpowder. This is a dangerous process. The mill will explode in 1604 and again in 1742.
In 1595, the Marktveld is repaved, in which a compass rose is installed in front of the Nieuwe Kerk.
In 1596, the painter Leonaert Bramer (1596–1674) is born in Delft. He creates genre, religious, and history paintings and becomes close to the family of Johannes Vermeer.
At the end of the 16th century, the city council officially establishes a few street names for the first time. These concern four streets on the site of the former Sint-Ursula monastery at Gasthuislaan. Because many Flemish textile workers live there, they name the streets after the cities of Tournai, Lille, Ypres, and Bruges.
In 1601, a group of twelve merchants and manufacturers of Delft decide to ready a ship for a voyage to the East Indies. The following year, however, the States General force all the existing overseas trading companies to form a single Dutch East India Company, putting an end to competition between them.
The 1660s, the so-called Dutch Golden Age, was a period of remarkable economic, cultural, and scientific flourishing in the Netherlands, which, like many cities in the Netherlands, was shared by Delft. Key factors included maritime trade dominance via the Dutch East India Company, the establishment of a modern financial system, and advancements in art, exemplified by painters like Rembrandt and Vermeer. Additionally, it saw notable progress in the sciences and politics, positioning the Netherlands as one of the world's major powers. The prosperity enjoyed by Holland's middle classes did not extend to everyone. Much less wealth seeped down to the lowest classes than is often assumed from the neat streets and well-ordered households that appear in so many of the era's paintings. The workhouse, the poorhouse, slum living and child labor were all evident. A laborer worked 14 hours or more a day for a few pennies; an able seaman, who ran a 50-50 chance of not coming back from an Indies voyage, made two or three guilders a week. Recent research shows that the Golden Age was far from golden for perhaps half the population.
In 1602, the VOC (Dutch East India Company) is founded as the world's first shareholders' company. It is an amalgamation of small, independent trading companies to which the States-General of the Dutch Republic grant far-reaching privileges. The most important of these is a monopoly on all trade east of the Cape of Good Hope. The company's main goal is to acquire a share of the profitable trade made in spices, textiles, and precious metals produced in this vast region, which includes Persia and India, the Malaysian Peninsula, the Indonesian archipelago, China, and Japan. The VOC consists of six Chambers (Kamers) in port cities: Amsterdam, Delft, Rotterdam, Enkhuizen, Middelburg, and Hoorn. The company rapidly expands becoming the largest employer in the Republic, and the growth of its power is felt immediately, even in the smaller participating cities. Delft, with a total investment of 469,400 guilders, is one of the smaller chambers. Although Delft is inland, it has access to the Atlantic Ocean through the port city of Delfshaven, a municipality of Delft, thereby allowing the import of vast quantities of precious Chinese porcelain. Some pieces are visible in Vermeer's paintings.
In 1615 - Vermeer's father, then a silk weaver (kaffawerker), marries Digna Baltens (d.1670) in Amsterdam. When Digna signs a statement to the effect that she is unmarried at the time, she with a cross. Later she learns to sign her name in full. The marriage is performed on 18 July. Reynier Jansz. is 24 years old.
In 1620, only about one-fourth of the population of Delft belongs to the Reformed Church. The city harbors many Catholics and Mennonites, as well as a range of religious minorities. Many citizens, however, prefer to remain unaffiliated with any church. Protestants and Catholics participate equally in many areas of public life in Delft; for example, in the guilds, which regulate economic life, and in the civic-guard companies. Vermeer's parents baptize, Gertruy, their first child, in Delft.
In the beginning of the 17th century, there are about 100 breweries in Delft.
Between 1602 and 1680, the Delft chamber of the VOC alone sends out eighty-two ships, in sizes ranging from about one to six hundred tons. Managers of the company maintain a yacht at the quay just west of the Schiedam Gate. The boat runs back and forth to Delfshaven, where ships returning from the East are unloaded into the small damlopers (dam runners) that carry the goods to warehouses in Delft. Since the decline in the brewery industry, Delft investors begin to seek new ventures in land, government loans, and shares of the VOC.
On May 29, 1611, the Guild of Saint Luke is founded, although the guild had existed long before. It is named after its patron saint, the Evangelist Luke. According to legend, the evangelist had painted a portrait of the Virgin Mary. Further, Luke's gospel is known as the most visual account in the Bible, including details and atmosphere. In Delft, as in every other artistic center, artists, and artisans come together primarily to limit the import of artworks from outside the city. The guild system is designed to improve the crafts and protect their quality. Members are required to pass a compulsory master's test, which guarantees the quality of the products and keeps them at a high level. Other protective measures are used to combat the increase in counterfeit goods and control foreign imports. For example, this is accomplished by limiting only painters belonging to the guild to sell paintings. The board of the guild comprises six members (two potters, two stained-glass artists, and two painters) under the leadership of a dean who is a member of the council of forty, a municipal advisory body. The painters are the most influential members. Membership of the guild brings along benefits as well as obligations and rules. A member is not allowed to take over another member's job except in cases of force majeure, such as illness or drunkenness. A simple sick benefit system exists, providing income and medical aid in case a member becomes seriously ill. Members are expected to attend the funerals of other members. Fees and fines for trespassing these rules are collected by a footman.
In 1613, the States General contracts Spierinx to produce a series of grand tapestries for the sum of 16,933 guilders. On May 17, 1616, Karel van Mander (1548–1606) rents a house belonging to the St. Anna convent for this purpose. Spierinx owns an art collection that boasts fine prints and drawings, including works from Italy and a superb collection by the painter Lucas van Leiden (1494–1533).
In 1614, the Kolk is excavated to create a more functional harbor.
In 1614, a milestone is reached in the development of Delft poverty relief, which would later be imitated in many other cities and earn a place in history books as the Delft model. Until then, it had been impossible to prevent poverty and begging. Attempts were made to employ the poor in the textile sector, but the number of poor people was far too large and the earnings were very low. Moreover, not everyone was able to work. In 1614, the city council takes a drastic step. The responsibilities of the deaconate and the Holy Spirit are transferred to and centralized in the Chamber of Charitate. The city is then divided into six well-organized districts, each with a deacon and a charity master who oversee the needy.
In 1614, the city council grants the surgeons' guild permission to set up an anatomy room in the baptistery of the Oude Kerk, with thirteen trained and competent surgeons. Their guild is supervised by the university-trained physicians employed by the city or the hospital, numbering no more than three or four. The surgeons gather in the Oude Kerk for more than four decades, until they move to a new space in 1656.
In 1615, Reynier Jansz. Vos and Digna Baltens, the future parents of Vermeer, are married shortly afterward they move to Delft, where they run an inn on the Market Square. Birth of Emanuel de Witte (died 1692) in
On August 1, 1616, riots break out in the city in protest of a new excise tax on corn. The civic guard is called out but has trouble organizing due to the crowded streets. After this incident, the civic guard is reorganized geographically into four districts, with bands stretching across the city, instead of by type of weapon.
From March 3 to March 4, 1618, Delft City Hall burns down. Everything is destroyed except the limestone tower; its bells are melted beyond repair, and are later re-cast as the Nieuwe Kerk's first bells in 1660. According to witness statements in the Orphanage Room, the fire from the night before had not been extinguished properly and flared up at night, leading to disastrous consequences. The floor of the Orphanage Room collapses into the Secretariat. Civilians rush to save what can be saved and manage to bring precious paintings and piles of papers to safety, but much is lost. Eventually, the entire town hall burns down, except for the heavy stone towers. It is rebuilt in Dutch Renaissance style, following a design by Hendrick de Keyser (1565-1621), who also designed Prince Willem's mausoleum in the Nieuwe Kerk.
In 1618, the Delft mintmaster and brewer Melchior Wyntgis (15??–1626 or later) compiles an inventory of his art collection in Brussels. The collection contains 170 paintings, the total value of which he estimates at more than 12,500 guilders. A large number of them are by masters from the Southern Netherlands, and the entire collection gives the impression of being an art dealer's stock in trade.
On August 1, 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers leave Delfshaven aboard the Speedwell. Since then, the town's Oude Kerk has been known as the Pelgrimskerk (Pilgrim Fathers Church).
Starting in the 1620s, earthenware producers in Delft, Haarlem, and probably Rotterdam attempt to create high-quality imitations of Chinese porcelain. However, it is only after a prolonged period of experimentation that they succeed in making thin, light, white-glazed earthenware decorated in blue in the Chinese style.
In 1621, the Bank of Delft is established.
In 1621, an English trading company known as the Merchant Adventurers is persuaded to establish its headquarters in Delft. As a result, the city gains an import monopoly on undyed English woolen cloth. Moreover, the activities involved in processing and transporting the cloth to other parts of the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe are expected to create new jobs in Delft.
In 1620, the Kolk is completed.
In 1622, Delft has 20,150 inhabitants; by 1680, the number increases to approximately 22,000.
In August 1623 and April 1624, the English trading company Merchant Adventurers hosts grand celebrations in the Prinsenhof to honor Elizabeth Stuart, the daughter of King James I, and her consort, King Frederick V of Bohemia.
In 1625, Delft establishes a bank of exchange in the newly rebuilt Town Hall to facilitate international financial transactions. Cloth dyers from other regions set up businesses in Delft, along with several English printers.
In c. 1627–1630, Vermeer's father, Reynier Janz., who since 1652 calls himself "Vos," rents an inn on the Voldersgracht in Delft called The Flying Fox (De Vliegnde Vos). The reason for the change of name is unknown.
In 1628, Leonaert Bramer, friend of Vermeer's family and believed by some to have been Vermeer's master, returns to Delft after a visit to Italy.
In April 1629, a captain and merchant from Delfshaven named Piet Hein (1577–1629) is appointed lieutenant admiral of the Dutch navy. Two months later, he dies in a skirmish with privateers near Dunkirk and is buried in Delft's Oude Kerk, in a tomb financed by the Delft chamber of the VOC
In 1631, Reynier Vos, Vermeer's father, establishes himself as an art dealer. He joins the Guild of St. Luke (the painters' guild) on October 13. In addition to being an art dealer, he is also a weaver who produces caffa, a fabric similar to silk.
In 1632, the scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and the artist Johannes Vermeer are born in Delft. Van Leeuwenhoek perfects the microscope and makes several groundbreaking discoveries, including the first accurate description of red blood cells. As the financial administrator of the Town Council, he later takes charge of Vermeer's estate after the artist's death and arranges for his widow to auction off his paintings. The population of Delft at this time is 21,000.
In 1634, English cloth merchants decide to relocate their business to Rotterdam, abandoning Delft. All subsequent attempts to rejuvenate the Delft textile industry prove futile. With the closure of the bank of exchange in the mid-1630s, Delft becomes significantly less cosmopolitan.
In the mid-1630s, the VOC disappoints investors, and the Delft office remains in operation only until 1676, when it is transferred to Rotterdam. A company formed with Delft capital to send ships on whaling missions to Greenland from Delfshaven fails to materialize.
From about 1645 to 1653 Vermeer receives his artistic training with an as yet unknown master or masters, either in Delft or possibly in another city.
In 1640, Delft is home to eleven potteries, each featuring a single kiln and employing an average of fifteen painters and servants. Vermeer's father signs a deposition as "Vermeer." Again, the reason for the change in name is unknown.
In 1641, Reynier Janz. Vos buys a large house and inn called "Mechelen" for 2,700 guilders on the Grote Markt (Great Market), in Delft. Three days earlier, Jan Thins (brother of Maria Thins, Vermeer's future mother-in-law) bought a house on the Oude Langendijk, Delft. In this house Vermeer will keep his studio and spend most of his adult life.
By 1645, only twenty-five breweries remain operational. However, the rapid expansion of the faience industry between 1650 and 1670 creates numerous new jobs, countering the notion that the decline in breweries and the textile industry deals a fatal blow to the city's economy. Families who had amassed fortunes in brewing or cloth production, and increased their wealth through wise investments in East India trade, continue to invest in public monuments and support a thriving local school of painting throughout most of the 17th century.
Between 1644 and 1647, due to civil unrest in China, the importation of Chinese porcelain drops from 200,000 pieces to 125,000 pieces in 1647, and to a mere 15,000 pieces in 1652. This decline stimulates production among Delft potters.
As the pottery industry gains prominence in Delft, potters' standing within the Guild of St. Luke evolves. By 1648, two of the six headmen are potters. Although an attempt in 1678 to form their own guild fails, the potters eventually establish their own organization within the guild in 1689.
On October 12, 1652, Reynier Janz. Vos, Vermeer's father,is buried in the Nieuwe Kerk, Delft.
In 1653, the De Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles (Royal Delft Porcelain Factory) is founded by David Anthonisz van der Pieth. Until the late 18th century, the company produces earthenware for clients in the Netherlands and across Europe, commonly known as Delftware. Delftware ranges from simple household items—plain white earthenware with little or no decoration, to incredibly ornate pieces.
In 1650, when Vermeer is 18 years of age, the population of Delft stands at 24,000. Slightly more than half of the citizens are native to Delft.
In the mid-17th century, an estimated 50,000 paintings in Delft households belong to middle-class families.
By the mid-1600s, the production of Delft pottery skyrockets.
On April 5, 1653, Vermeer marries Catharina Bolnes, who is a year and a half his senior. She comes from a respected Catholic family in Gouda. Among the witnesses to the civil marriage is the successful Delft painter Leonaert Bramer (1596–1674). The night before, Bramer, and a certain Captain Melling declare that Maria Thins refused to give her consent in writing but she states that "she would suffer the (marriage) banns be published and would tolerate it." The religious ceremony occurs on April 20 in Schipluyden (or Schipluiden) according to Catholic rites and is therefore likely clandestine. The newlyweds initially reside in the Mechelen house, where Vermeer's father operates an inn on the Market Square. On December 29, Vermeer gains admission to the Guild of St Luke as a master painter. He pays a portion of his enrollment fee: 1 florin and 10 stivers. He completes the payment (a total of 6 florins) on July 24, 1656. On April 22,Vermeer and the successful painter Gerrit ter Borch from Deventer co-sign a document in Delft.
On October 12, 1654, a gunpowder magazine known as t Secreet van Hollandt explodes in an event referred to as the Delftse Donderslag (Delft Thunderclap), devastating much of the city. The explosion, caused by 40 tonnes (80,000 to 90,000 pounds) of the Netherlands' black powder reserve, results in over a hundred deaths and thousands of injuries. Fortuitously, many citizens are away attending a market in Schiedam or a fair in The Hague. Carel Fabritius, a colleague of Vermeer and Rembrandt's most gifted pupil, dies while painting a portrait, along with some of his limited body of work. Another Delft painter, Daniel Vosmaer, loses an eye. Remarkably, a baby girl is found alive after 24 hours, still sitting in her high chair and holding an apple. Arnold Bon, a bookseller and publisher, laments Fabritius's death in verse but finds solace in Vermeer's emerging talent.
Immediately following the catastrophic Thunderclap of 1654, Delft's mayors resolve to relocate the Pesthuis, a hospital for plague victims, to a location outside the city. In alignment with contemporary medical insights, patients suffering from the highly contagious disease are to be isolated even post-mortem. Funds are allocated to purchase land for a cemetery, which appears on a map as early as 1656.
In 1654, painter Jan Steen (c. 1626–1679) takes over one of the few remaining breweries—De Slang (The Snake), alternatively known as De Roskam (The Currycomb), on the city's main canal. However, he relinquishes it three years later due to financial setbacks. Steen's failure is partly attributable to a nationwide economic slump induced by the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-54).
In 1655, the Schie Canal is completed with a towpath along its western side. Spearheaded by the Delft city council, the project aims to facilitate commerce with Delfshaven. The trekschiuten (tow-boat ferry service) operate from the Zuidkolk, adjacent to the Kethel or Schiedam gate. They offer hourly departures in both directions and connect to Overschie, near the Maas River. From there, one can travel straight to Delfshaven, turn right to Rotterdam, or left to Schiedam. With 13 to 15 daily services to Rotterdam in both directions (except Sundays), Delft becomes a critical junction in Southern Holland's tow barge network. The undertaking involves negotiations with numerous landowners and necessitates the construction of various infrastructures like bridges, rights of way, and toll exemptions.
On December 14, 1655, Vermeer and his wife co-sign a document declaring themselves secondary sureties and co-principals for a debt incurred by the deceased Reynier Jansz. Vos. The document is signed "Johannes Reijninjersz Vermeer," with "Vosch" crossed out.
In 1656, Vermeer pays the remaining part of the master's fee in the Guild of Saint Luke. Vermeer signs one of his first known paintings, The Procuress.
In the 17th century, an estimated 120,000 passengers annually make the journey between Delft and Rotterdam via tow barge.
In 1657, Maria Thins, Vermeer's mother-in-law, in the first draft of her testament, leaves to Vermeer's daughters jewels and the sum of three hundred guilders to Vermeer and Catharina.
On 30 November, 1657, Vermeer and his wife acknowledge a debt of 200 guilders to Pieter Claesz van Ruijven (1624- 1674), who lent them the money on the same day. This is the first record of a relationship between the artist and his most important patron, who will eventually acquire as many as twentyone paintings by Vermeer.
After being proclaimed king by the English Parliament, the exiled Charles II declines invitations from France and Spain to set sail for England from their territories. Instead, he accepts an offer from the Dutch States General while residing in Breda. On May 26, 1660, Charles II arrives in Delft by yacht to a triumphant reception. He departs from The Hague on May 23, 1660, reaching London six days later.
By the late 1600s, Delft emerges as the primary producer of pottery in the Netherlands. This rise is partly attributed to the decline of the local brewing industry, enabling artisans to occupy larger facilities previously owned by breweries.
In the late 1660s, the city commissions Leonaert Bramer to decorate the Great Hall of the Prinsenhof. The canvas murals he creates depict scenes suitable for both governance and entertainment, including musicians, waiters, and banqueters.
By the 1650s, the trekschiuten system of horse-towed boats becomes remarkably efficient. One could travel from Delft to The Hague in as little as one hour and forty-five minutes, with departures every hour, or reach Amsterdam in approximately twelve hours. These tow boats operate with high frequency, experience minimal delays, and can sail in nearly all weather conditions. While primarily serving as passenger transports, they are also occasionally used for carrying cargo—such as gin from Schiedam distillers to Delft.
On December 27, 1660,Vermeer and his wife bury a child in the Oude Kerk. The same document states that the couple is living in the house of Maria Thins on the Oude Langendijk, in Delft.
On October 18, 1662, Vermeer ascends to the position of vice-dean of his guild. To boost its financial resources, the guild raises the apprenticeship enrollment fee from 10 stuivers to 2 florins and 10 stuivers.
On August 11, 1663, Vermeer receives a visit in Delft from the French art enthusiast and alchemist Balthasar de Monconys. Monconys notes in his diary that he finds the asking prices for paintings in Holland excessively high. Later that year, on October 18, Vermeer is elected dean of the painter's guild for a one-year term.
After 1664, Delft no longer records any cases of the plague. Probable date of birth of Johannes, one of the two known sons of Vermeer.
In 1665, the population of Delft reaches 25,000. Pieter van Ruijven and his wife Maria Knuijt, Vermeer's patrons leave a considerable sum five hundred guilders to Vermeer in their last will and testament. This kind of a bequest is very unusual and presumably testifies a close relationship between Vermeer and Van Ruijven. Vermeer's wife is excluded in he predeceases her. An average Dutch house might cost one thousand guilders.
In 1667, Vermeer's name is mentioned in Dirck van Bleyswijck's Description of the City of Delft as the successor of the deceased painter Carel Fabritius. Maria Thins empowers Vermeer to collect various debts owed to her and to reinvest the money according to his will and discretion.
By 1670, one-fourth of Delft's populace is engaged in pottery production. Of the over 100 breweries that once existed in the early 1600s, only 15 remain. Meanwhile, the city houses 28 pottery factories, many of which are equipped with a second kiln.
On February 13, 1670, Vermeer's mother passes away at her Vlamingstraat residence. On July 13, Vermeer inherits the Mechelen inn located on the Market Square. Later, on October 18, he is elected as the dean of the guild for a one-year term, along with the outgoing headman Louijs Elsevier. Vermeer's mother is buried in the Nieuwe Kerk, in Delft, February 13. Gertruy Reynier Vermeer, Vermeer's sister, is buried in the Nieuwe Kerk, in Delft. In 1671, Vermeer inherits 148 guilders from his sister Geertruyt.
In 1672, Vermeer leases his deceased father's inn, Mechelen, to an apothecary for six years. Once he is elected as an official of the Guild of Saint Luke.
In 1672, French King Louis XIV invades the Netherlands, marking the Het Rampjaar (the disaster year). On January 1 of the same year, Dirck van Bleyswyck publishes Beschryvinge der Stadt Delft (Description of the City of Delft). Forced by illness to abandon his travel plans, van Bleyswyck opts to delve into the history of his hometown from his sickbed. Despite his love for Delft, he observes a generational shift, as the younger generation seems increasingly interested in foreign cultures at the expense of local heritage. This change in sentiment, van Bleyswyck believes, can be attributed to the republic's prosperity and global expansion by the latter part of the 17th century.
On January14, 1672, Vermeer leases the Mechelen to an apothecary for a period of six years. Later, on 23 May, Vermeer is summoned to The Hague with several other painters to appraise a collection of twelve Italian paintings. This appraisal was needed due to a dispute between the art dealer, Gerrit van Uylenburgh, and their potential buyer, Friedrich Wilhelm, the Grand Elector of Brandenburg.
On April 9, 1672, Delft dispatches troops to defend against the French invasion. By June 29, jobless protesters from Schiedam have occupied the Delft City Hall. On September 10, half of the Veertigraad (Council of Forty), composed of Delft's wealthiest citizens, are replaced by pro-Orangist officials.
On May 3, 1672, Johannes Vermeer and fellow Delft painter Hans Jordaens travel to The Hague. Along with other artists like Karel Dujardin, they assess thirteen "Italian" paintings being sold by Gerrit Uylenburgh to the Elector of Brandenburg and deem them of poor quality.
On June 27, 1673, another child of Vermeer and his wife was laid to rest in the Old Church in Delft in a grave purchased by Vermeer's mother-in-law, Maria Thins. Later, on 21 July, Vermeer visited Amsterdam and sold two bonds totaling 800 guilders to Hendrick de Schepper. One of these bonds, valued at 500 guilders, had initially been issued in the name of Magdalena Pieters van Ruijven, who was the daughter of Vermeer's patron, Pieter Claesz. van Ruijven.
In 1674, Vermeer's name appears on the register of the Delft militia. In the words of a Delft edict of 1655, Schutterij (the Dutch word for guardsman) were "the most suitable, most peacefully and best qualified burgers or children of burgers." On 4 May, Vermeer travels to Gouda to settle some affairs of his recently deceased father-in-law, Reynier Bolnes. On 10 June, Maria Vermeer, the eldest daughter of the artist, marries Johannes Gillisz. Cramer, a merchant.
In 1675, in the last document in which Vermeer's name appears he was alive, the artist borrowed one thousand guilders from Jacob Rombouts in Amsterdam, using as collateral a restricted obligation under the custody of the Orphan Chamber of Gouda for 2,900 guilders, to the usufruct of which Maria Thins was entitled.
On December 1, 1675, Vermeer was buried in an "Eijgen Graff" (Own Grave) in the Oude Kerk. The grave was owned by his mother-in-law Maria Thins. A number of Johannes and Catharina’s children had previously been buried in the same plot prior to Vermeer’s death. A recently discovered register regarding the people buried in the Delft's Oude Kerk states that Vermeer's coffin was carried by fourteen pallbearers and that the church bell tolled once for him. This indicates Vermeer’s funeral would have required a significant financial expenditure. Bas van der Wulp, a member of the city archives who made the discovery, explains that such a ceremony was clearly luxurious, adding that although he read about funerals in Delft with twenty pallbearers, these were reserved for members of the town's elite. Vermeer’s wealthy mother-in-law, Maria Thins, received a little more at her funeral, “two intervals of bells.” Maria Thins' troublesome son, Willem, later also received a similar funeral. Van der Wulp believes that Thins probably paid for her son -in-law's funeral thinking of eventually advancing the costs to her daughter, as they were probably not yet aware of the financial misery in which Vermeer was in at that time.
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February 2 and 5, 1677, Leeuwenhoek appears before the Lords Aldermen of Delft to settle Vermeer's debt with Jannetje Stevens, who then transfers back to Vermeer' estate twenty-six paintings in the possession of Jan Coelenbier. A public sale of the paintings is planned. Maria Thins notifies that The Art of Painting ("de Schilderconst") was transferred to her by her daughter and that the painting should not be included in the sale of Vermeer's estate in the Guild Hall of Saint Luke. Leeuwenhoek denies the legality of the transfer. The sale of the paintings takes place in the Guild Hall, March 15. No records of the sale survive.
. In the late 1660s, the city of Delft pays Leonaert Bramer for decorating the Great Hall of the Prinsenhof with canvas murals, which appear to have depicted scenes appropriate both to government (what may be The Rape of the Sabine Women on the long wall; figures of Justice and Charity on the sides of tl1e fireplaces) and to entertainment (musicians, waiters, and banqueters).
In 1680, Delft's population is recorded as 25,000. On December 27, Maria Thins is buried and her daughter Catharina Bolnes inherits her possessions.
On January 2, 1688, Catharina Bolnes, Vermeer's wife, is buried in Delft's Oude Kerk. Her death certificate indicates that she had moved to a Verversdijk residence, known by the sign of the Blue Hand.
In 1687, Catharina dies in Delft during a visit to her daughter Maria Vermeer and Johannes Cramer at their house the "Blue Hand" on Verwersdijk. She is given her Last Sacraments on December 30 and is buried three days later. Her relatives could afford to pay twelve pallbearers. She leaves five children under twenty-five years of age who were still unmarried.
Around 1700, Delft's population stands at approximately 22,000. Many foreigners leave the city, but Delftware factories peak in number, reaching over thirty establishments. Employee counts per factory are estimated to range from fifteen to sixty.
In 1732, the population of Delft decreases to 15,000.
By 1749, the population further dwindles to 13,900.
Between 1834 and 1836, the Rotterdam and Schiedam Gates, landmarks featured in Vermeer's View of Delft, are taken down.