Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is … See more

In Dutch, Vermeer is pronounced [vərˈmeːr], and Johannes Vermeer as [joːˈɦɑnəs fərˈmeːr], with /v/ assimilating to the preceding voiceless /s/ as [f]. The usual English pronunciation is /vərˈmɪər/, with /vɜːrˈmɪər/, … See more

Relatively little was known about Vermeer's life until recently. He seems to have been devoted exclusively to his art, living out his life in the city of Delft. Until the 19th century, the only sources of information were a few registers, of… See more

Vermeer may have first executed his paintings tonally like most painters of his time, using either monochrome shades of grey ("grisaille") or a limited palette of browns and greys ("dead coloring"), over which he w… See more