Jan Vermeer van Delft is today considered one of the most famous Dutch painters of the Golden Age. During his lifetime he was a moderately successful genre painter who produced only a few paintings. Of these only about 37 have survived today. But his few paintings, such as "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" or "Maid with a Milk Jug", are among the most popular and expensive works of art in the world. Vermeer painted with great care and liked to use expensive pigments. Most of the works show scenes from the domestic life of the middle class. He also produced some city views and history paintings. His special talents were the realistic depiction of figures and objects, and a fascination with light and shadow. This made his pictures so unique.
For a long time hardly anything was known about Vermeer's career. Even today there are still many gaps that have been filled with speculations. Vermeer's father was a weaver and art dealer. The family was not wealthy, but had enough money to buy and run an inn in Delft. After the death of his father in 1652, Vermeer inherited both the art trade and the restaurant. But he did not seem to have any particular interest in the business and preferred to devote himself to painting. Who Vermeer apprenticed with is not documented. Many believe that he was a student of Carel Fabritius, who in turn was a student of Rembrandt. Others suspect that he taught himself and used his father's contacts in the art dealer scene to acquire expert knowledge. His style was clearly influenced by Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio, which is why others suspect that he either learned in the Utrecht school, for example at Gerrit van Honthorst, or at least was influenced by their works. He became a member of the Delft painters' guild in 1653. Among Vermeer's close friends was the Delft painter Leonard Bramer.
In 1653 Vermeer married the Catholic Catharine Bolnes. For this reason, Vermeer, who had been brought up Protestantly, converted shortly before the marriage, presumably at the request of his future mother-in-law Maria Thins. She was a distant relative of the Utrecht painter Abraham Bloemaert and considerably wealthier than Vermeer. The young couple therefore moved into her large house. Vermeer lived and worked there until the end of his life. He had set up his studio on the second floor of the house. The couple had a total of 15 children, but 4 of them died before their baptism. Vermeer died in 1675 after a short illness. The notorious catastrophic year had hit him hard and ruined him financially. His wife Catharine later wrote about her husband, that he was ruined by the stress and financial pressure. He left his wife and 11 children with considerable debts, so that the family was forced to sell many of his paintings and his passionately assembled art collection in order to survive.
Jan Vermeer van Delft is today considered one of the most famous Dutch painters of the Golden Age. During his lifetime he was a moderately successful genre painter who produced only a few paintings. Of these only about 37 have survived today. But his few paintings, such as "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" or "Maid with a Milk Jug", are among the most popular and expensive works of art in the world. Vermeer painted with great care and liked to use expensive pigments. Most of the works show scenes from the domestic life of the middle class. He also produced some city views and history paintings. His special talents were the realistic depiction of figures and objects, and a fascination with light and shadow. This made his pictures so unique.
For a long time hardly anything was known about Vermeer's career. Even today there are still many gaps that have been filled with speculations. Vermeer's father was a weaver and art dealer. The family was not wealthy, but had enough money to buy and run an inn in Delft. After the death of his father in 1652, Vermeer inherited both the art trade and the restaurant. But he did not seem to have any particular interest in the business and preferred to devote himself to painting. Who Vermeer apprenticed with is not documented. Many believe that he was a student of Carel Fabritius, who in turn was a student of Rembrandt. Others suspect that he taught himself and used his father's contacts in the art dealer scene to acquire expert knowledge. His style was clearly influenced by Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio, which is why others suspect that he either learned in the Utrecht school, for example at Gerrit van Honthorst, or at least was influenced by their works. He became a member of the Delft painters' guild in 1653. Among Vermeer's close friends was the Delft painter Leonard Bramer.
In 1653 Vermeer married the Catholic Catharine Bolnes. For this reason, Vermeer, who had been brought up Protestantly, converted shortly before the marriage, presumably at the request of his future mother-in-law Maria Thins. She was a distant relative of the Utrecht painter Abraham Bloemaert and considerably wealthier than Vermeer. The young couple therefore moved into her large house. Vermeer lived and worked there until the end of his life. He had set up his studio on the second floor of the house. The couple had a total of 15 children, but 4 of them died before their baptism. Vermeer died in 1675 after a short illness. The notorious catastrophic year had hit him hard and ruined him financially. His wife Catharine later wrote about her husband, that he was ruined by the stress and financial pressure. He left his wife and 11 children with considerable debts, so that the family was forced to sell many of his paintings and his passionately assembled art collection in order to survive.
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