Johannes Vermeer

c. 1632 – c. 1675

Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch Golden Age painter from Delft, celebrated for his serene domestic interior scenes and masterly treatment of light. He worked slowly and left only around three dozen known paintings, including Girl with a Pearl Earring and View of Delft. Little regarded after his death, he was rediscovered in the nineteenth century and is now ranked among the greatest painters of all time.

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Lived at the same time

Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Johannes Vermeer.

Life events

Born in Delft, Dutch Republic
c. 1632

Johannes Vermeer was baptized in the Reformed Church in Delft on 31 October 1632, the son of an innkeeper and art dealer.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Inherited his father's art-dealing business
1652

After his father's death in 1652, Vermeer took over the family's inn and art-dealing trade, which he pursued alongside painting.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married Catharina Bolnes
20 April 1653

On 20 April 1653 Vermeer married the Catholic Catharina Bolnes; the couple eventually had fifteen children, of whom eleven survived him.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Admitted as a master painter to the Delft Guild of Saint Luke
29 December 1653

On 29 December 1653 Vermeer was registered as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke, the Delft painters' guild.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Painted The Milkmaid
c. 1658

Around 1657-1660 Vermeer painted The Milkmaid, one of the masterpieces of his mature domestic interior style.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Elected head of the Guild of Saint Luke
1662

In 1662 Vermeer was elected one of the headmen of the Delft painters' guild, a sign of his standing among fellow artists, and was re-elected in later years.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Painted Girl with a Pearl Earring
c. 1665

Vermeer's most famous work, Girl with a Pearl Earring, is generally dated to around 1665.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Financial ruin during the Dutch 'Year of Disaster'
1672

The French invasion of 1672 collapsed the Dutch art market, leaving Vermeer unable to sell paintings and plunging his large family into debt.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in Delft
c. 1675

Vermeer died in December 1675 after a short illness, deeply in debt, and was buried in the Oude Kerk in Delft on 15 December 1675.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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