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Stories Behind Selected Paintings of Jan Vermeer and his Contemporaries. The Dawn of the Global World in the 17th Century. Dieter Merkl dieter.merkl@ec.tuwien.ac.at Electronic Commerce Group Institut für Softwaretechnik und Interaktive Systeme Technische Universität Wien
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Stories Behind Selected Paintings of Jan Vermeer and his Contemporaries The Dawn of the Global World in the 17th Century Dieter Merkl dieter.merkl@ec.tuwien.ac.at Electronic Commerce Group Institut für Softwaretechnik und Interaktive Systeme Technische Universität Wien Favoritenstraße 9-11/188-1 . 1040 Wien . Austria/Europe Fax: +43 (1) 58801 - 18899 http://www.ec.tuwien.ac.at/~dieter/
View on Delft • Jan Vermeer • ~ 1660 • 96.5 × 117.5 cm, Oil on canvas • Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague, NLhttp://www.mauritshuis.nl/
Notes • tombstone in the Old Church of Delft • “View on Delft” was painted from the south, Vermeer must have had access to a somewhat elevated position • the tower of the New Church is shining in the sun • following to the left we see the tower of the Old Church
Notes (2) • in the left foreground we see a passenger ship with some people waiting to get on board • two ships tied together on the right side of the picture are used for catching herrings • herrings have moved southwards into the North Sea because of a period of global cooling in the 17th century • the cooling was also responsible for the plague epidemics in that time
Officer and a Laughing Girl • Jan Vermeer • ~ 1657 • 50.5 × 46 cm, Oil on canvas • Frick Collection, New York, USAhttp://www.frick.org/
Notes • in the picture we see a soldier talking to a girl alone in a room • on the wall we see a map of the Netherlands • the map is oriented towards the west with land colored blue and water colored brown • for comparison see a map of the Netherlands from 1658
Notes (2) • the soldier is wearing an impressive hat made from beaver felt • the fur of beaver was treasured for making stable and water resistant hats • beaver population, however, was reduced due to hunting • so, alternatively, hats were made from felted sheep wool, not as stable as beaver though
Notes (3) • beaver fur came to Europe from North America (Canada) - in exchange for knives • contact with native American population because of the search for a land passage to China through America
Girl Reading a Letter by an Open Window • Jan Vermeer • ~ 1657 • 83 × 64.5 cm, Oil on canvas • Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germanyhttp://www.skd-dresden.de/en/museen/alte_meister.html
A Maid Asleep • Jan Vermeer • ~ 1657 • 87.6 x 76.5 cm, Oil on canvas • Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USAhttp://www.metmuseum.org/
Girl Interrupted in Her Music • Jan Vermeer • ~ 1658 • 78 x 67 cm, Oil on canvas • Herzog Anton-Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig, Germanyhttp://www.museum-braunschweig.de/
Woman With a Pearl Necklace • Jan Vermeer • ~ 1662 • 55 x 45 cm, Oil on canvas • Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germanyhttp://www.smb.museum/
Reading Woman • Pieter Janssens Elinga (1623 - ~1682) • ? • 75.5 x 63.5 cm, Oil on canvas • Alte Pinakothek, München, Germanyhttp://www.pinakothek.de/alte-pinakothek/
The Lute Player • Hans Hendrick Maertensz (~1610 - 1670) • 1661 • 52 x 39 cm, Oil on panel • Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlandshttp://www.rijksmuseum.nl/
Notes • we see a woman reading a letter by an open window • it is a love letter, x-ray showed that Vermeer originally had a Cupid on the wall, which he omitted in the final painting • it is the same room as in “Officer and a Laughing Girl” and the woman is wearing the same dress • note the mirroring effect of the window
Notes (2) • in the foreground we see a table • a Turkish carpet is moved aside, the carpet was too precious to cover the floor • on the table we see a bowl with fruit • the bowl is porcelain made in China • porcelain appears also in other paintings of Vermeer and his time • contemporary “Girl Reading …” made with Lego pieces
Notes (3) • porcelain from China was valued in Europe • much finer than European tableware made of clay • Chinese salesmen sold pieces that did not meet the Chinese standard of beauty • some pieces were even built for the European market, e.g. bowls for soup the were considerably larger than the ones for the Chinese market
The Geographer • Jan Vermeer • 1668 • 53 x 46.6 cm, Oil on canvas • Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, Germanyhttp://www.staedelmuseum.de/
The Astronomer • Jan Vermeer • 1668 • 50 x 45 cm, Oil on canvas • Musée du Louvre, Paris, Francehttp://www.louvre.fr/
The Astronomer • Gerrit Dou (1613 - 1675) • 1650 • 27 x 29 cm, Oil on panel • Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, The Netherlandshttp://www.lakenhal.nl/
Notes • we see a person that is completely absorbed by his work • on the table we see a map • the geographer is holding a divider • he looks up in a moment of reflection • other maps are on the left in front of the windows and on the floor • on a cupboard we see a globe, made by Hendrik Hondius
Notes (2) • the person possibly is Antony van Leeuwenhoek, a draper, surveyor and scholar on Delft • he appears also in “The Astronomer” by Vermeer • Antony van Leeuwenhoek acted as executor when Vermeer’s widow Catharina announces insolvency
Notes (3) • the knowledge of the world was constantly increasing during the 17th century • geographers were integrating the observations of sailors to produce ever more exact maps • many ships wrecked because of incomplete knowledge of the world • the latitude was quite easy to determine for the navigator, the longitude was not until the 18th century • as an example a page of the Hondius-Atlas