1. Use the following slides to analyze the work of Vermeer.
Solve the Mystery
Use the following slides to analyze the work of Vermeer.

2. A Lady writing a Letter, Washington, National Gallery, 45x40 1662-64
A young woman is fashionably dressed in the ermine-trimmed yellow jacket that appears in other Vermeers. She is writing, and has looked up from her work with a questioning glance. Painting is thought to be influenced by Gerard Ter Borch's Woman Writing a Letter (next slide), painted in The two artists were friends, and cosigned a legal document in 1653.

3. "The Geographer"
"The Geographer”, c , Oil on canvas, 52 x 45.5 cm (20 1/2 x 17 15/16 in.), Stadelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main

4. "View of Delft"
c , Oil on canvas, 96.5 x cm (38 x 45 9/16 in.), Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis, The Hague

5. This painting by Gerard Ter Borch's Woman Writing a Letter, painted in The two artists, Vermeer and Ter Borch, were friends and cosigned a legal document in In the Ter Borch the emphasis is on the writing, but Vermeer uses that as a springboard to paint a sensitive, individual portrait.

6. "Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid”, c. 1670, Oil on panel, 72
"Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid”, c. 1670, Oil on panel, 72.2 x 59.7 cm (28 13/32 x 23 1/2 in.), National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

7. The Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Hague, Mauritshuis, 47x40 1665
It has been thought that this is a painting of one of Vermeer's daughters, but the eldest, Maria, was only 11 in 1665.

8. "The Lacemaker”, c. 1669-1670, Oil on canvas transferred to panel, 23
"The Lacemaker”, c , Oil on canvas transferred to panel, 23.9 x 20.5 cm (9 13/32 x 8 1/2 in.), Musee du Louvre, Paris

9. "Woman Holding a Balance”, c. 1664, Oil on canvas, 40. 3 x 35
"Woman Holding a Balance”, c. 1664, Oil on canvas, 40.3 x 35.6 cm (15 7/8 x 14 in.), National Gallery of Art, Washingtonhttp://
This painting has been known until recently as "The Goldweigher" or "Girl Weighing Pearls". Microscopic analysis, however, has revealed the pans of the balance to be empty.

10. "Woman in Blue Reading a Letter"
"Woman in Blue Reading a Letter”, c , Oil on canvas, 46.6 x 39.1 cm (18 11/32 x 15 13/32 in.), Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

11. "The Girl with the Red Hat”, c. 1665, Oil on panel, 22
"The Girl with the Red Hat”, c. 1665, Oil on panel, 22.8 x 18 cm (9 x 7 1/16 in.), National Gallery of Art, Washingtonhttp://
Most scholars agree that Vermeer utilized a camera obscura in the composition and execution of "The Girl with a Red Hat".

12. The Magic Mirror of Life: An Appreciation of the Camera Obscura
Vermeer’s Camera Obscura (Above)

13. The Procuress, Dresden, Gemaldegalerie, 143x130 1656
These brothel scenes, or Bordeeltje, were popular at the time as a response to an increasingly prudish, puritan ethos. The figure at the left has the self-conciousness of a self-portrait. If so, this the only picture of Vermeer in existence. This grinning figure is perhaps toasting with us, ready to celebrate the fun.

14. M forger of Vermeer, Han van Meegeren (1889-1947) - “greatest forger ever”
Arrested only days after the end of the Second World War on the serious criminal charge of having sold a Dutch National Treasure to the enemy: one of his fake Vermeers, The Adultress, had ended up in the personal art collection of the Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring.

15. Essential Vermeer
About Johannes Vermeer Art