Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)

It is believed Vermeer produced a total of fewer than 50 paintings, of which 34 have survived.

Only three Vermeer paintings were dated by the artist: The Procuress (1656; Gemäldegalerie, Dresden); The Astronomer (1668; Musée du Louvre, Paris); and The Geographer (1669; Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt).

Vermeer's mother-in-law, Maria Thins, owned Dirck van Baburen's 1622 oil on canvas The Procuress (or a copy of it), which appears in the background of two of Vermeer's paintings.

The same subject was also painted by Vermeer.

Almost all of Vermeer's paintings are of contemporary subjects in a smaller format, with a cooler palette dominated by blues, yellows, and grays.

Vermeer painted multiple artworks portraying a pure profile like the painting Woman with a Pearl Necklace, which was uncommon in Dutch art at the time.

Practically all of his surviving works belong to this period, usually domestic interiors with one or two figures lit by a window on the left.

They are characterized by a sense of compositional balance and spatial order, unified by a pearly light.

Mundane domestic or recreational activities are imbued with a poetic timelessness (e.g., Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, Dresden, Gemäldegalerie).

Vermeer's two townscapes have also been attributed to this period: View of Delft (The Hague, Mauritshuis) and The Little Street (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum).

A few of his paintings show a certain hardening of manner and are generally thought to represent his late works. From this period come The Allegory of Faith (c. 1670; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and The Love Letter (c. 1670; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam).