Delft

with her family. Her mother, sister Agnes and Griet would laugh during their daily chores and she would explore the city of Delft, their dutch hometown, with her two beloved siblings, Agnes and Frans. She was able to talk and confide in her father, who helped her gain perspective and wisdom. Everything changed as Griet’s family found misfortune when her father, a tiler in Delft, lost his eyesight due to a kiln accident and was no longer able to practice his trade. This forced Griet to become a…

This type of street has been implemented in many places all over the world. Each street design is guided by a set of main goals. One goal of a shared street is that it is a residential area (Ben-Joseph). In the city of Delft in the Netherlands woonerfs were created as part of the residential homes (Institute of Transportation Engineers). Shared streets are designed to create a safe space that brings the community together (Department of Transport). Another design goal…

city of Delft, Vermeer would have been exposed to the artistic styles and practices of his region. With the Protestant Reformation, a raise in demand for non-religious works inspired the development of Dutch genre paintings. These works often featured interior and domestic scenes from peasants or the wealthy elite. These scenes were popular for their moral messages that didn’t necessarily rely on Christian iconography. It is also important to note that a good number of Catholics lived in Delft,…

from such fees, historians believe this is mostly due to his amazing skills and maybe a little to do with local common financial hardships of the people of that time. It was around this same time Johannes would meet a gentleman named Peiter van Ruijven, Mr. Ruijven would become a benefactor of Johannes and would come to buy most of the paintings Johannes would later come to paint. Johannes’ family would come to rely on the financial support of Peiter van Ruijven, his money would become very…

center of the Spanish Netherlands. But when Antwerp was taken over by the Spanish in 1585, many people fled to the northern provinces. Many of them were rich and educated, therefore they brought knowledge to many cities such as Amsterdam, Leiden and Delft. The cities offered work space, free housing, citizenship and financial support for businesses for the refugees. Today, people flee to Amsterdam from the south due to war, religious persecutions, or finding better working conditions. For…

Wheelock: an art expert’s thoughts on Vermeer’s work In comparison to his contemporaries Vermeer painted relatively few canvases. According to Wheelock, Vermeer’s working method is quiet slow with great attention to detail and this combined with an early death accounts for the limited set of canvases. On the other hand Wheelock observes that the scarcity of paintings may contribute to why we value them so much Describing the paintings Wheelock tells us that the paintings express an admiration…

What if someone started calling you another name intentionally? Probably a familiar question if you were paying attention in class when Ms. Van Delft asked that question. This time I will formulate the question a bit differently. How would you feel like if your background race was mocked in a ridiculously fallacious manner, intentionally? Instead of you materializing responses I will give you an answer from a perspective of a University student. Indigenous students still experience…

Vermeer’s increased attention to line and size is similarly evident in Woman in Blue Reading a Letter. This painting depicts a young woman entranced by a letter, presumably from her lover. She wears a blue coat and stands beside a table. A chair is pulled out from the table; perhaps it is the woman’s seat. Behind her, a large map of the Netherlands hangs on the wall. Interestingly, the map is based on a known map and also appears in Vermeer’s painting, Officer and Laughing Girl. Despite the…

The movie, “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” was so intriguing specially because I am familiar with the fictional story by Tracy Chevalier. I read about it previous to watching the movie. The girl in the story, Griet, is 16 years old and becomes the maid of a painter called Johannes Vermeer, who is attracted by her. The painter includes her in his drawings that later on are a conflict within the household. She also attracts the attention of Vermeer’s patron. Little is known about the life of the…

own time, he is now revered as one of the best Dutch artists. Perhaps his lack of recognition during the seventeenth century was due to the small amount of paintings he produced or the fact that only a small group of people bought his paintings in Delft, the city he lived in. The small group of people found his work noteworthy, however, despite his lack of formal training. Rather he learned his techniques by looking at other artworks sold by his father (Liedtke). After reading “A Key to…