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The Art of Painting
Johannes Vermeer · Baroque & Dutch Golden Age
- Artist
- Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675)
- Date
- c. 1666–1668
- Dimensions
- 120 x 100 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
The Art of Painting shows a painter, seen from behind in a striking black-and-white doublet, at work in his studio. His model, a young woman dressed in blue, poses by the window as Clio, the Muse of history, with a laurel wreath, a trumpet and a book.
A closer look
A heavy tapestry curtain is drawn back at the left, as if revealing a stage. On the back wall hangs a large map of the Netherlands, its folds and cracks catching the light, and a brass chandelier hangs from the ceiling. The painting is an allegory of the art of painting itself, celebrating its link with history and fame. Vermeer kept it all his life and his widow tried to save it from creditors after his death, which suggests how much it meant to him.
More by Johannes Vermeer
In this gallery
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window
The Milkmaid
View of Delft
The Little Street
Woman Holding a Balance
The Astronomer
The Lacemaker
Famous works elsewhere
- The Geographer 1668
- The Procuress 1656
- Christ in the House of Martha and Mary 1650
- A Girl Asleep 1657
- Diana and her Nymphs 1650