Blog 3 pre 1900 historical art/ science
Johannes Vermeer was a painter in Europe who lived during the mid 1600's. His father was also painter and had apprenticed in Amsterdam. It was unclear where Vermeer had apprenticed to become a painter. We do know though that he was a part of the Guild of Saint Luke which was an association for painters during his time. He was baptized in the reformed church in 1632 but later married Catharina Bolenes who was Catholic which led to his conversion. There are references to this conversion and religion in some of his works. There isn't a ton of knowledge about Vermeer and his practices or early life, however many of his paintings are considered masterpieces.
To this day it is argued about how Johannes created his incredibly realistic paintings. There have been books, such as David Hockney's Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters , that have argued that Johannes used a primitive version of a camera obscura to create his masterpieces. It was also argued by Hockney that along with camera obscura Vermeer used curved mirrors to create the positions of his subjects in his paintings.
Another book was published in 2001 by Phillip Steadman called, Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth behind the Masterpieces which goes on to prove the fact that Vermeer used a camera obscura to create his works. He goes on to say in his book that he had personally found six paintings of Vermeer's that had been painted inside of the same room, and also several that fit the right dimensions if the painting had been projected onto a wall by a camera obscura.
Those books are just two examples of the many theories that have been written on Vermeer's paintings. There are many other people that believe it to be true by his color choice, some of his sparkly pearl highlights, that would be prevalent if it were a reflection. If he used a mirror to flip the image much like a camera lucida it would be much easier to color match his paints to his subjects, which in all of his paintings seem eerily accurate. Also, the depth and proportions of the rooms always seemed to be slightly deeper, or longer than what people imagined the rooms to actually be like, which could have been an effect of a camera lucida.
Much like everything else in the world there are hundreds of conspiracy theories about Vermeers work with camera obscures int he 1600's. However, there has been no proof ever found on it. After his death his belongings were carefully searched and there was no mention of any camera obscura or any other contraption that would have manifested a similar result. Although, Vermeer's good friend and the executor of his estate after he had past was Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who did happen to be a pioneer lens maker at the time.
To this day it is argued about how Johannes created his incredibly realistic paintings. There have been books, such as David Hockney's Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters , that have argued that Johannes used a primitive version of a camera obscura to create his masterpieces. It was also argued by Hockney that along with camera obscura Vermeer used curved mirrors to create the positions of his subjects in his paintings.
Another book was published in 2001 by Phillip Steadman called, Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth behind the Masterpieces which goes on to prove the fact that Vermeer used a camera obscura to create his works. He goes on to say in his book that he had personally found six paintings of Vermeer's that had been painted inside of the same room, and also several that fit the right dimensions if the painting had been projected onto a wall by a camera obscura.
Those books are just two examples of the many theories that have been written on Vermeer's paintings. There are many other people that believe it to be true by his color choice, some of his sparkly pearl highlights, that would be prevalent if it were a reflection. If he used a mirror to flip the image much like a camera lucida it would be much easier to color match his paints to his subjects, which in all of his paintings seem eerily accurate. Also, the depth and proportions of the rooms always seemed to be slightly deeper, or longer than what people imagined the rooms to actually be like, which could have been an effect of a camera lucida.
Much like everything else in the world there are hundreds of conspiracy theories about Vermeers work with camera obscures int he 1600's. However, there has been no proof ever found on it. After his death his belongings were carefully searched and there was no mention of any camera obscura or any other contraption that would have manifested a similar result. Although, Vermeer's good friend and the executor of his estate after he had past was Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who did happen to be a pioneer lens maker at the time.
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