Vermeer and the Baroque Era
Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window by Johannes Vermeer ( 1657-1659) Background Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) was a Dutch painter from Delft, Netherlands during the Baroque era and the Dutch Golden Age. Today, he is one of the most recognizable artists of the period, his most famous painting being The Girl with the Pearl Earring . Despite being a popular artist in his hometown of Delft during his lifetime, he never saw the level of fame that he receives today. It was nearly two hundred years after his death that his work gained worldwide recognition. Currently, there are thirty-four known paintings that are credited to Vermeer, possibly six missing works ( Boone ), and an additional three that could be Vermeer’s ( Janson, “Complete Vermeer” ). Vermeer was introduced to art through his father’s business dealing paintings, which Vermeer inherited along with his debt after his father’s death. While he was raised Protestant, he converted to Catholicism just before his marriage, t...