Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

Figure 1. Perspective drawing of Vermeer's Glass of Wine, 1658-1660.

the painter draws the string up a little from the surface, using the free hand,

and lets it snap back onto the canvas. The powdery chalk is thus applied to

the surface of the painting; the line can be traced with a pencil or brush. The

remaining dust can be gently wiped or blown away, leaving little or no trace

of the method except the pin point.

The distance points, positioned on either side of the vanishing point on the

horizon, provide the basis fo r the diagonals, which in turn fo rm the basis of

the tiled floors. Distortion occurs at the corners if the horizon is placed

relatively high and the distance points are close to the vanishing point. Ex­

amples of this are observed in the Glass of Wine (1658-1660), with its viewing

angle of approximately 43° (Fig. 1), and the Girl with The Wine Glass (1659-

16 60), which has an even smaller angle of approximately 35° (31, 32). The

Music Lesson (1662-1665), in which Vermeer again returns to a large angle,

(approximately 44°), is the last picture in his oeuvre to show a certain dis­

tortion of the floor tiles due to the short interval from the distance points

(33). In The Concert (1665-1666), the angle again returns to about 34°; in The

Allegory of Painting (1666-1 66 7), the viewing angle has decreased to around

30° (Fig. 2). In The Love Letter (1 667 -1670) the angle declines to about 28°,

and in the last painting executed by his hand, A Lady Seated at the Virginals

(1673-1675), Vermeer reduces the viewing angle to only 22° (Fig. 3) (34,

35).

A growing tendency can clearly be observed over the years to let the distance

points move fu rther away from the scene. By doing this, Vermeer eliminated

the distortion of the floor tiles in the fo reground corners, particularly as he

moved his vanishing point toward the edge of the painting at the same time.

As the vanishing point can still be identified in many of Vermeer's pictures,

his method of using threads attached to a pin inserted at the central point is

evident. The distance points, however, could constitute a problem. Wo uld he

be able to determine the position of the diagonals on the edge of his canvas

when space recedes towards the back walls in his interiors? This is hardly

Figure 2. Perspective drawing of Vermeer's Allegory of Painting, 1666-1 667.

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