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Johannes Vermeer’s Biography
Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He was born on October 31, 1632, and died on December 16, 1675. He was best known for his Delft paintings, including ‘ The Love Letter’ and ‘View of Delft’, and his ‘pearl pictures’, like ‘ Girl with a pearl Earring’.
He was born to Digna Battens and Reijnier Janszoon. Johannes Vermeer took over the operation of the family art business after the death of his father. Johannes married a Catholic woman, Catharina Bolens in April 1653. Johannes’s mother-in-law Maria Thins insisted that Johannes should convert to Catholicism before the marriage on 5 April. The marriage took place in a quiet nearby village of Schipluiden.
According to art historian Walter Liedtke, Johannes’s conversion seems to have been made with conviction. The couple moved in with Catharina’s mother who lived in a rather spacious house at Oude Langendijl, almost next to a hidden Jesuit church.
Here Johannes stayed for the rest of his life, producing paintings in the front room of the second floor. His wife gave birth to 15 children, four of whom were buried before being baptized, but was registered as “child of Johan Vermeer”.
His Career
Johannes Vermeer was a painter but it is unclear where his artistic talent was molded. He registered as a master painter with the Delft Guild in 1653.
He later became the Dean of the organization. His early works were in mythology and religion, with paintings including Diana and her Nymph and Christ in the House of Mary and Martha.
He started to become preoccupied with unremarkable domestic scenes from around 1657 when he mounted “The Milkmaid”. One of the most famous paintings Johannes did was “The Girl with the Pearl Earring. He also did ” View of Delft” in 1660.
Is Johannes Vermeer Dead?
Johannes Vermeer died on 16th December 1675. His finances suffered from the economic downturn following the invasion of Holland by France in 1672. He was in heavy debt when he died suddenly. His wife believed depression and poverty were the reasons for his early death.