Somehow Vermeer’s paintings manage to transcend time and place. They may have been created several hundred years ago, but they are almost shockingly present.

2. Secrets and Silence ...
Johannes Vermeer invites us into his world

3. Johannes Vermeer
The Master of Delft

5. a symbol of chastity ...
a girl in exotic dress,
an oriental turban
softness of the girl’s face,
the glimmers of light on her moist lips ...
and of course, the shining pear

7. VERMEER, Johannes
Girl with a Pearl Earring
1665
Mauritshuis, The Hague

8. VERMEER, Johannes
The Milkmaid
1658
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

9. a plain room
an everyday scene
a milkmaid carefully pouring milk into a squat earthenware container on a table
a foot warmer is on the floor behind her, near Delft wall tiles depicting Cupid

15. VERMEER, Johannes
The Music Lesson
1662-1665
Buckingham Palace, London

16. a sunlit room
the windows convey light and shadows
a young woman stands to play on a clavecin
a man in elegant dress watches her and listens intently
the mirror on the wall reflects the young woman's face
the inscription on the virginal 'Music is a companion in pleasure and a balm in sorrow’
both figures are quiet, as though the music were measured and restrained ...
the pleasure and melancholy of love

21. VERMEER, Johannes
The Art of Painting
1665-1667
Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna

22. a large curtain, drawn back as though revealing a tableau vivant:
an artist and
a young model, Clio, the muse of history
a laurel wreath symbolizing honor and glory, a large book signifying history, and the trumpet of fame
the chandelier, which is surmounted by a double-headed eagle, the imperial symbol of the Hapsburgs,
dynasty that ruled the country

27. VERMEER, Johannes
Young Woman with a Water
Jug
1660-1662
Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York

28. the very simplicity and stillness
the perfect balance of the composition
a young woman opening a window and with a brass water jug in her left hand
the basin and pitcher, traditional symbols of purity

33. VERMEER,
Johannes
A Lady Drinking
and a Gentleman
1658
Staatliche
Museen, Berlin

34. an elegantly dressed young man is watching a woman finish a glass of wine
he has his hand on a jug, and seems to be waiting to refill the glass
the chitarrone on the chair symbolizes both harmony and frivolity
the window pane shows a woman holding a bridle, an attribute of Temperantia (moderation)

39. VERMEER, Johannes
Girl Reading a Letter at an
Open Window
1657
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

40. a young Dutch girl standing at an open window reading a letter
stillness,
inner absorption,
remoteness from the outer world
the curtain as though it has been pulled aside to reveal this intimate moment in the young woman's life

45. VERMEER, Johannes
Girl Interrupted at Her
Music
1658-1661
Frick Collection, New
York City

46. a seduction scene
a young woman at her music with an older gentleman
the gentleman seems to be fully absorbed by his feelings
... the importance of music when it comes to love

51. VERMEER, Johannes
The Procuress
1656
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

52. fascinating scene of mercenary love
a procuress looks approvingly at a soldier, who offers a young woman a coin while fondling her breast
holding a glass of wine in one hand, she willingly accepts his proposition

57. an elegant dandy …
dressed in a démodé jerkin, smiles out at the viewer as he holds aloft a glass and grasps a musical instrument
probably self-portrait of the painter

59. oes
Johannes Vermeer,
The Master of Delft
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60. Somehow Vermeer’s paintings manage to transcend time and place. They may have been created several
hundred years ago, but they are almost shockingly present.
Most of the compositions are set in 17th-century Dutch interiors, yet they seem to invite you in, to envelop
you as if you were actually there, even if you are actually living in the far-away present.
Vermeer creates a stillness in his works that brings us to a halt, and he lets us forget for a moment our
busy lives, bombarded with fast-moving images and sound.
Vermeer invites us into his world ...