_Jan Vermeer of Delft_ (Dutch: 1632-1675).
This picture formerly belonged to the celebrated French critic
Thoré (who wrote under the name of "W. Bürger"), to whom
belongs the credit of having rescued Vermeer from oblivion.
He was famous in his own day, being one of the chiefs of the
Delft Guild of Artists. But after his death his works were
dispersed or destroyed or ascribed to Pieter de Hooch, and
his very existence was forgotten till "Bürger's" researches
rehabilitated him (see _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1866, pp.
297, 458, 542). He was born in Delft, and was for a short time
a pupil of Carel Fabritius, a painter who was deeply imbued
with the spirit and manner of Rembrandt. Vermeer obtained good
prices for his pictures, but his circumstances cannot have
been flourishing, for his widow had to apply to the court of
insolvency to be placed under a curator. His works are now
rare and costly: for the present picture £2400 was paid. The
artist with whom Vermeer has the closest affinity is De Hooch.
At an auction in Amsterdam in the middle of the 17th century a
De Hooch is praised as being "nearly equal to the famous Van
der Meer of Delft," and there is often some confusion between
the works of the two painters. Substitute red for blue, it has
been said, and a Vermeer becomes a De Hooch. Both painters
are remarkable for the quality of light displayed in their
interiors, and Vermeer has never been surpassed in the cool
general effect which he produced. "Though in perfection of
execution," says M. Havard, "the one rivals the other, they
differ singularly in their use of the brush. Whilst Hooch
has a vigorous and supple touch, Vermeer on the other hand,
proceeding by short steps, paints in small patches, and then
connects the whole by glazing in a manner peculiar to himself,
which produces a vibrating effect, a characteristic of this
original painter which we cannot forget" (_The Dutch School_,
p. 186). Beauty of tone and perfect harmony are conspicuous
in all his works, which in some other respects exhibit marked
differences, for "the Sphinx of Delft" (as Bürger calls him)
had several manners. It is supposed that he worked for a time
under Rembrandt. The picture of four life-sized figures in
the Dresden Gallery called "Les Courtisanes," and dated 1656,
suggests the influence of that master. During the last ten or
twelve years of his life he adopted a second manner, of greater
delicacy and subtlety. In all his works there is a singular
completeness and charm. He is a master in rendering momentary
expression, and his pictures attract by the successful
delineation of character, as well as by the skill with which he
makes his figures move in light and air. He has also a complete
mastery of perspective, and in his effects of light upon flat
surfaces he is unsurpassed.
This picture is a good example of the qualities described above.[249]
"The head, however, has unfortunately suffered from over-cleaning,
showing the gray under-painting which gives the picture a colder
aspect than it would otherwise have" (Official Catalogue). The picture
has a very good "pedigree," Bürger, to whom it once belonged, having
traced it back, through the Solly and Danser-Nyman Collections, to an
anonymous sale catalogue of 1714.