Blog entry #8: Telling the Story of the Baroque Using JSTOR: 8.10

    The artist that I chose for this topic is Jan Vermeer. Jan(Johannes) Vermeer was a Dutch artist, who 

lived during the Baroque period. He was born on October 1632, Delft, Netherlands. He was famous for 

his paintings during the 17th century. He was also famous for making 34 paintings, which one of the 

most famous one was the Girl with a Pearl Earring. Vermeer was represented as the artist of Delft for 

his famous paintings. His paintings resembled a remarkable purity of light and form. Another one of 

Vermeer's paintings Christ in the house of Mary and Martha could actually be recognized as an Italian 

art even though its Dutch (Zilva, C. S. “Jan Vermeer of Delft.” The Burlington Magazine for 

Connoisseurs, vol. 67, no. 391, 1935, pp. 178–178. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/866314. 

Accessed 27 Nov. 2020). Vermeer's painting were so significant that the Italians put his paintings up in 

the Renaissance art museum of Florence, Italy. 

    However, in Chapter 15 on page 375, it states that Vermeer's paintings were forgotten after his death. In 

the JSTOR article it states that Vermeer's paintings has a strong affinity to the Italian paintings. People 

always thought or might have assumed that Vermeer might have probably traveled to Italy to receive some 

training on art (Zilva, C. S. “Jan Vermeer of Delft.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 

67, no. 391, 1935, pp. 178–178. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/866314. Accessed 27 Nov. 2020). 

Although, people found Vermeer's art very unique they always wondered and tried to figure out 

what was the meaning behind each of his paintings since most of his paintings were about girls sewing or 

playing music. Most of his art actually presented women and the stories they had. 

    The reason why I chose Vermeer as my topic was because he actually Illustrated a painting The Girl with 

a Pearl Earring, which later on became a movie in 2003 showing that girl was actually Vermeer's girlfriend 

and one true love named Griet, but he couldn't marry her because he was already married to Catharina 

Bolnes, but in reality nobody knows who that girl is and why Vermeer painted a portrait of her. To be honest 

I don't fully understand Vermeer, because he is a very mysterious artist who made detailed art that had bright 

light contrast to it which is why his art was unique, but I could say judging by his art Vermeer was more of a 

peaceful, loving and a romance type of guy. Where as other artists makes paintings that depicts the history, 

violence and government body of Eastern Europe. I think Vermeer was trying to symbolize what women did 

or struggled through and what significance did they had back in the 17th century (Smith, David R. 

“Vermeer and Iconoclasm.” Zeitschrift Für Kunstgeschichte, vol. 74, no. 2, 2011, pp. 193–

216. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41310769. Accessed 28 Nov. 2020). 

Hyperlink        Hyperlink 





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