The Art of Painting Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)

Description of Jan Vermeer’s painting "The Painter’s Workshop

The painting by the Dutch painter Vermeer bears other titles as well. Such as The Artist and the Model, The Allegory of Painting, and The Art of Painting. Size 130x110 cm. Painted with a mixture of squirrel and oil on canvas in about 1667.

The painting can be safely attributed to the Golden Age of painting. At that time, religious themes began to change into secular themes. This is one of the artist’s most recent, and also major works. It is unique in its allegorical meaning.

The composition is organized so that the first thing that catches the eye is the slightly ajar curtain. The idea allowed the gaze to flow smoothly to the drawing artist and then to the posing model. Thus forming a kind of triangular movement.

Vertical and horizontal rhythms, which are formed thanks to the studio itself and the wall, protect the painting from excessive dynamism. Also horizontal is the map of the Netherlands from 1636. On it Vermeer depicts a fold. And it does not appear in a random place, but exactly where the lands were divided into two parts.

The candelabrum, topped with a double-headed eagle, bears an allegory of sight, the very sense of the five that is so important to the artist.

And the model, in turn, is interpreted as the muse of history in Greek mythology - Clio. And the volume she holds in her hands has been deliberately depicted backwards for the viewer. Now this gesture serves as a definite message from the artist to the future interpreter.

The presence of quite a few significant components, like the model with all its historical features, the map from the distant past, the coat of arms and the outdated attire of the painter makes it possible to say precisely about the praise of painting as the most important of all arts.

Today, the painting "The Painter’s Workshop" is in the Austrian capital of Vienna, in the Museum of History and Art.