skill of a master. Note the repetition of oval shapes and the contrast between
the fall of the watch key chain and the curve of the lemon peel.
Church interiors were also a common subject. Our example shows the work
of Emmanuel de Witte (1616/18–1692), a painting of The Interior of the New
Church at Delft, with Tomb of William the Silent (c. 1656). We see an oblique
view from the ambulatory through the columns to the tomb in the choir. This
monument was the most important shrine in the Netherlands, dedicated to
William I, Prince of Orange, who led the rebellion against Spain and was
assassinated. The end of the Eighty Years’ War that rati¿ ed independence
was just past.
William the Silent’s grandson, who died in 1650 after an unpopular reign,
was buried beneath this tomb as well. Many paintings of the tomb were done
during the 1650s, and they may have been painted for pro-Orange clients
trying to rehabilitate the dynasty name by association with its founder.
To call Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) a genre painter, a landscape painter,
or a painter of mythological or religious subjects would miss the point.
Although he painted all these subjects, he left fewer than three dozen
paintings behind. Most of them have a quality dif¿ cult to describe but easy
to recognize, yet for two centuries after his death, he was largely forgotten.
Our example shows Vermeer’s The Art of Painting (c. 1662–1665). The
tapestry is pulled back to open up the space, where the artist is pictured in
an old-fashioned costume. The map behind him shows a uni¿ ed Netherlands
before the separation of north and south. The model, Clio, wears a laurel
wreath and holds the trumpet of fame and a history book. Because this
painting was not commissioned, it has been suggested that it was intended
for the painters’ guild in Delft. This painting was in the artist’s possession
at his death, and his widow claimed that it “depicted the art of painting.”
Through historical circumstances, the painting became the property of Adolf
Hitler. After the war, it was repatriated to the Kunsthistorisches Museum
in Vienna.
View of Delft (c. 1660–1661) is a cityscape that was done in the early years
of Vermeer’s career. When the Netherlands purchased this painting at