In the history of Western art, few artists have captured the subtle beauty of windows and their manifestations in human life as masterfully as Johannes Vermeer. Though he never achieved great success during his lifetime, Vermeer is now celebrated as one of the most brilliant artists of his era. Among the 34 authentic paintings he has known, 20 feature windows as a key element, through which a soft, diffused light illuminates his subjects.
Unlike his Baroque contemporaries, who portrayed characters emerging from darkness into light toward the artist or viewer, Vermeer’s subjects appear as though the light is gently arriving at them, leaving both the artist and viewer in shadow. Standing before his works, we find ourselves in the dark corners of the rooms he depicts, quietly admiring his figures. His women, though not as conventionally beautiful as the idealized portraits of the Baroque, are transformed into enigmatic, lasting beauties through the subtle, subdued light that enters his studio windows.
Vermeer’s use of windows is precise and poetic; he captured three distinct types in his paintings, along with two types of floor tiles—ceramic and marble—to create a deep perspective. The light always enters the scene at a right angle from us, illuminating his characters. As we sit in the shadows of his studio, appreciating these quietly radiant figures, we are enveloped in a silence that invokes a deep, contemplative longing, as if we, too, are seeking something lost or distant.
To see the paintings, please visit https://www.essentialvermeer.com/vermeer_painting_part...
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