New discoveries are emerging about Johannes Vermeer’s creative process, particularly about the famous painting View of Houses in Delft, also known as The Little Street, created around 1658-1659. Recent studies have revealed that in an early version of the work the door to the house was closed, and that the woman sitting on the threshold, visible in the final composition, is a mirror figure to the one the artist originally placed at the beginning of the alley. These new additions are in addition to other changes already known, such as the addition of the red shutter on the right and the children playing on the veranda, all of which Vermeer inserted later.
The revelations are part of the new volume Closer to Vermeer: New Research on the Painter and His Art, published on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the Dutch painter’s death. The book brings together the results of an extensive multidisciplinary investigation conducted before, during and after the major exhibition devoted to Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 2023.
Art historians, restorers, and curators from some of the most prestigious international institutions, including the Rijksmuseum, the Mauritshuis, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Frick Collection, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the National Gallery in London, and the University of Antwerp, participated in this extensive research.
To date, 30 of the 37 paintings attributed to Vermeer have been found to have significant modifications, ranging from minor corrections to radical changes in the structure and meaning of the works. These data offer a deeper look into the artist’s working method, use of materials and his painting technique.
In parallel, new archival documents have also emerged that help enrich our knowledge of Vermeer’s private life, his patrons and the objects portrayed in his paintings, thanks to the work of several art historians involved in the project.
“By literally opening the door, Vermeer makes the scene accessible to the viewer. This and the many other new discoveries in the book paint a picture of a determined artist, constantly striving to perfect his paintings,” said Pieter Roelofs, head of visual arts at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
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| Rijksmuseum, all new findings on Vermeer in a book published for the 350th anniversary of his death |
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