Major Vermeer show to open at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

The largest retrospective of 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer will be opening at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam next week. Around 28 of Vermeer’s known 35 paintings will be on display from February 10 until June 4, 2023.

Before you head to the exhibition, here is an overview of the Golden Age of Dutch art and Vermeer’s near-miraculous role in it.

An enigmatic painter

Dutch Baroque artist Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) was born in Delft to a middle-class family, and his childhood home was located on Delft’s main square. Unfortunately, not so much is known about Vermeer’s childhood and youth before he got married in 1653. We also don’t know much about his art training.

One of Vermeer’s greatest inspirations is thought to have been the mysterious artist Jacob Vrel (circa 1630 - circa 1680) who is still relatively unknown. This year, his predecessor Vrel will also be honoured at the Mauritshuis in The Hague with a blockbuster big exhibition titled ‘Jacobus Vrel: Searching for Clues to an Enigmatic Artist’.

Researchers used to assume that Vrel was Vermeer’s follower, but recently it was discovered that it was actually the other way around. Amid Vrel’s calm and mysterious interior and street scenes, there are some visible parallels to Vermeer’s art, but there is no proof at the moment whether the artists were actually familiar with each other's works.

Dutch Golden Age painting

In the Netherlands, the 17th century is known as the Dutch Golden Age. During the country’s unprecedented period of political, economical, and cultural glory, art flourished. Some of the most famous painters at the time included Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Pieter de Hooch, and Jacob van Ruisdael. From the 17th century up to modern artists, this period of Dutch art influenced many painters.

Interior scenes

One of the trends during this period was genre painting, which depicted daily activities, and in the Netherlands the main theme was particularly domestic, interior paintings. For Dutch painters, the interiors of the depicted places were independent environments often mirroring characters' feelings and intentions. This can be seen in the paintings of Pieter de Hooch or Jan Steen as well as in many of Vermeer’s paintings.

In ‘Young Woman with a Lute’ (1662-63) Vermeer created a dynamic and vivid composition, in which a young woman is playing the lute while looking out of the window, as if she is checking to see if anyone is listening to her music.

Painters who focused on interiors were mostly from Delft, just like Vermeer. But every one of them was searching for their original voice in art. Vermeer was fascinated by the psychological condition of the heroes in the time of their reflections or rest. ‘Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window’ (1657-59) is one of Vermeer’s most mysterious paintings and shows the girl lost in her thoughts reading a letter near the window. We don't know who she is and who sent her this letter but it immerses us into a quiet, peaceful and reflective atmosphere.

Symbols in Vermeer’s paintings

The often-spoken feature of Dutch art of the 17th-century is the symbols depicted in the paintings. For example, clothes worn by characters can tell us a lot about them. Many women in his paintings wear dull-coloured clothes as a symbol of their modesty. But in some of Vermeer's paintings, women are wearing vivid clothes and even drinking wine.

Vermeer is quite unconventional in the way he portrays female characters. For example, the sleeping woman in Dutch art often symbolises indolence. But in ‘Young woman sleeping’ (1657) he depicted her while she was resting without accusing her for being lazy.

The world of Vermeer’s characters is appealing because anyone from any epoch can imagine themselves in their place. Reading a letter in the silence of the morning house, playing the instruments and enjoying the music, calmly watching the world from the window, or having a minute of rest sitting at the table — he creates an inviting world which feels like home.