Artibus et Historiae no. 6 (III)
1982, ISSN 0391-9064Up
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ARTHUR K. WHEELOCK, JR., C.J. KALDENBACH - Vermeer's View of Delft and His Vision of Reality
Vermeer's View of Delft has long been famous for the remarkably powerful impression that it projects. This article examines the painting to understand the manner in which Vermeer created such a naturalistic, yet imposing work of art. It discusses the techniques employed to create textures of buildings and walls. Through a comparison with old maps and town views it analyzes in detail the relationship of his scene to the actual site depicted. This information suggests that although many areas of the painting are extremely accurate, Vermeer did make a number of compositional adjustments to enhance the impact of the scene. Some of these alterations are evident in x-rays and infra-red reflectographs of the painting. The existence of modifications in compositional design are important when considering the hypothesis that Vermeer worked with a camera obscura.
