Vermeer: The Greatest of Them All?

On Vermeer’s essential characteristics, what sets him apart from his contemporaries, and what is the greatest life lesson we can learn from him

Introduction

(The Milkmaid, Johannes Vermeer, 1658)

Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) is one of the most celebrated artists in history. Although he created fewer than 50 paintings, with only 35 (the exact figure is still under debate) surviving, and despite their relatively small scale, Vermeer is considered by many to be one of the most important painters in art history.

At first glance, it doesn’t make sense why Vermeer would be such a celebrated artist. Most of Vermeer’s artworks depict one or two people in a room, typically illuminated by a single window. He was primarily depicting ordinary life scenes. His works were small in scale and quantity. Vermeer's oeuvre would be overshadowed compared to the giant painters of his day, like Rembrandt, Rubens, and Van Dyck. Overshadowed by their sheer scale and by the grandeur of their subject choices.

Nevertheless, Vermeer’s art holds a special place in the hearts of art lovers. The historic Vermeer exhibition last year in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam attracted over 650,000 visitors from 113 countries in 16 weeks, from February 10 to June 4, 2023. The Rijksmuseum exhibition was deemed “the most successful exhibition in its history.” [1] Even almost 350 years after his death, Vermeer’s art managed to attract people from all over the world to see it.

The following essay will explain how and why Vermeer’s art is uniquely placed in art history. How Vermeer found beauty in his own room, in life’s smaller moments: through his beautiful portrayals of a Milkmaid pouring milk, an astronomer looking at the globe, a maid writing a letter, and a painter carefully applying his brush to a canvas, Vermeer showed us that beauty can be found almost everywhere. We just have to focus on it. We have to re-arrange the ordinary to see the extraordinary hiding beneath it.

We will analyse some of Vermeer’s essential characteristics, what sets him apart from his contemporaries, and how his art can profoundly affect our lives. We shall conclude by answering the essay’s key question: Was Vermeer the greatest of them all?

Vermeer’s Subjects & Creative Process

Vermeer had a wide variety of different subjects. In some paintings, such as “The Milkmaid”, the lead was a working-class lady. In others, the stars were enlightenment-kind figures, like in “The Astronomer” and “The Geographer”. And, of course, as it was common in his days, there were many portrayals of the social elite.

(The Astronomer, Johannes Vermeer, 1668)

Vermeer’s creative process was slow. He took extreme care to ensure that every tiny detail was perfected. He used expensive colours from rare minerals, such as ultramarine blue, made from the precious lapis lazuli stone; back then, lapis lazuli was only especially imported from Afghanistan. Therefore, it was among the most expensive colours a painter could use. Vermeer was not a rich man; in fact, when he died, he left his wife in debt. Nevertheless, he managed to obtain those colours thanks to his moderate success in selling art and thanks to his patrons. His commitment to only working with the finest pigments shows his relentless dedication to achieving perfection.

Scale

Vermeer worked on significantly smaller canvases compared to his contemporaries. For example, “The Astronomer” measures only 51 cm by 45 cm, in contrast to the works of Rembrandt, Rubens, and Van Dyck, which were often at least twice, if not three or even four times larger than Vermeer’s. This focus on smaller-scale work boosted the ability of Vermeer’s canvas to project the intimate atmosphere he aimed for.

(Massacre of the Innocents, Peter Paul Rubens, 1612)

The trend during the 17th century in the golden age of Dutch art was towards making bigger-than-life and dramatic portrayals of mythological, biblical, and historical scenes. Vermeer represents a stark contrast to that movement. He was the antithesis of Rubens and Rembrandt in this regard.

Light

(Belshazzar's Feast, Rembrandt, 1638)

It is undeniable that Vermeer had a mastery of technique and lighting. Vermeer’s approach to light stands in stark contrast to Rembrandt’s approach. In most of Rembrandt’s paintings, we can see bold contrasts of light and shadow. This compositional device is known as “Chiaroscuro”. It helped Rembrandt to imbue his paintings with emotional depth and a strong sense of drama.

On the other hand, Vermeer meticulously captured the subtleties and calmness of natural light in his domestic scenes. Vermeer's approach to exclusively (except for the famous example of “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and also “Study of a Young Woman”) following natural light to absolute perfection is evident in his works.

Elegance & Serenity

(The Art of Painting, Johannes Vermeer, 1668)

Another significant aspect of Vermeer’s works is their subtle sense of elegance, which I particularly admire. There’s a serene atmosphere that is present in almost all of his works. It’s an interesting kind of serenity. His characters are not static; quite the contrary, there’s a great deal of movement, but the movements are subtle, precise, and slow. Imagine the Milkmaid carefully pouring the milk, the Astronomer slowly moving his globe, and the painter in “The Art of Painting” slowly applying his brush to the canvas.

These elegant movements are symbolic of Vermeer’s approach: patience and precision. Slow yet relentless and uncompromising strive towards perfection. It makes me want to embrace that attitude in my own life; our world of AI and 20-second Instagram reels has lost that sense of patient perfectionism that Vermeer so masterfully achieved in his life and work.

Vermeer’s precision, clarity, fantastic display of the smallest details, his expansive use of colour, and serene atmosphere that challenges the viewer to take things slower and be more introspective, more accurate, more nuanced, and considerate are enormous aesthetic achievements. In that sense alone, Vermeer’s place among art history’s greatest giants is more than justified.

Granted, it’s not an easy painter to appreciate; it takes more experience and more patience. The enjoyment out of a Rembrandt or a Rubens painting is much more straightforward. Nevertheless, the reward of taking the time to study and appreciate Vermeer is well worth it. It’s a unique kind of aesthetic joy.

Vermeer’s focus on the serene encourages us to do the same in our own lives. He calls us to enjoy life more profoundly; even in the smaller details and seemingly tedious tasks, we can find beauty and joy.

Now, to address a few points of critique about Vermeer:

Was Vermeer a Naturalist?

(Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid, Johannes Vermeer, 1671)

One potential critique of Vermeer’s work is the claim that it focuses on the everyday, the banal, and the boring. Essentially, the claim is that Vermeer was a naturalist. This means that Vermeer was committed to painting reality as it is rather than portraying reality as it can or should be. Therefore, his art is only descriptive rather than evaluative and normative. Thus, it cannot affect our lives in the most profound way an artwork can. It can be visually pleasing, but it cannot penetrate too deeply into the human soul.

Naturalism is the opposite of romanticism. Romanticism is the aesthetic theory that propagates the notion that art should recreate reality as it might or should be. And not as it is. There is a wide spectrum between naturalism and romanticism, so I won’t name Vermeer as a romantic. I don’t think that would be accurate, but he’s far from a naturalist.

Let’s address a few common points raised as evidence for the claim that Vermeer was a naturalist:

1. Subject Choice & Style

Starting from Vermeer’s subject choice, it is granted that he focused on the everyday man and woman of Dutch society. There’s nothing extraordinary about the Milkmaid as a subject, nothing particularly unique or interesting about her. So, in the sense of Vermeer choosing to paint an ordinary woman doing ordinary things, it is indeed a naturalistic subject choice.

However, Vermeer’s projection of natural light on her body and his elevation of that ordinary scene into a beautiful masterpiece, does make it more than just a Milkmaid pouring milk. So, in that sense, there’s more to the Milkmaid than meets the eye. Still, she’s not the most romantic subject per se.

2. Compositional Selectivity and Idealization:

There’s no denying that Vermeer's subject choices are quite naturalistic. When we look deeper into Vermeer’s stylistic choices, we see how far he is from naturalism.

The level of clarity in which Vermeer portrays the Milkmaid, the visual interest created by the contrasting yellow and blues of her dress, the arrangement of the bread on the table, that mystery box on the floor on the right side, the basket by the window… This is a carefully arranged scene. Vermeer exemplifies extreme levels of compositional selectivity (more about selectivity here). With such a high level of selectivity, this work cannot be oversimplified as “naturalistic”. This is not reality as it is, but rather as Vermeer saw fit to capture on his canvases. So, in that sense, there is an idealization of that reality that stood before his easel. Vermeer omitted anything of disinterest and captured anything of interest for him in that masterful scene.

3. Light:

Vermeer is indeed more committed to a more realistic/naturalistic portrayal of his subjects; one example to support that claim is his extensive reliance on natural light and his refrain from using light in a more dramatic style like Rembrandt used. However, his light is not coincidental. Vermeer chooses a specific light setting to fit his subject choice. Take a look at the above painting, “Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid” The light hits precisely the faces of the ladies and illuminates all objects of interest in the scene, such as the letter on the floor, the maid’s right arm, etc. Vermeer does not project the light as it is, but rather, he works with the light as a tool to focus on what he deems worthy of focus in the composition. Light for Vermeer is a compositional device, not an object of 100% realistic representation. It is a tool for him. So, in this sense, there is an idealization of the light. Light “as it should be” to achieve his vision.

4. Moment:

Finally, some might argue that Vermeer’s choice of a moment to capture is naturalistic; “These are random. Why did Vermeer choose that moment specifically in “The Art of Painting”? It could have been a few brush strokes earlier or later….” In that sense, Vermeer is simply capturing a passing moment; therefore, he is much closer to being a naturalist.

This claim couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Vermeer deliberately chooses the most climactic moment in his scenes. The climax is very understated, but a climax it is nonetheless. The most obvious example of a climax would be in “The Milkmaid”; despite it not being a particularly dramatic scene, the moment of the milk pouring is the climax. Not what happened before or after. The same with “The Astronomer”, it might not be obvious, but according the look on his face, this is the exact moment where the astronomer has found what he was looking for. Therefore, that is the climax of the scene. Vermeer is a thoroughly climactic painter, very much like Rembrandt in that regard. It may be difficult to realise it for some because of the subtle nature of his subjects and the nuanced detail work, but the fact is that Vermeer has predominantly focused on portraying the climax and not a random moment. This is another point to suggest that Vermeer was far from a naturalist.

Conclusion & Vermeer’s Life Lesson

(Girl with a Pearl Earring, Johannes Vermeer, 1665)

The art of Vermeer teaches us an ever-so-important lesson, especially in our fast-paced times: Enjoy life’s smaller moments and take your time to appreciate everything in life, even pouring milk. See the beauty that’s abundant even inside your own room. Take the time to enjoy slow recreational activities such as painting or playing the guitar. Write a handwritten letter, stare at the window, and appreciate life’s beauty.

Applying Vermeer's lessons in our lives can lead to greater happiness and fulfilment. That is the most important contribution one can have from Vermeer. Take things slower, and relish on every little thing. Be the best, don’t compromise on cheap colours, don’t compromise on what matters to you.

So, was Vermeer indeed the greatest of them all? In many respects, I shall give this answer a resounding YES.

---

Do you agree? What life lessons have you found in Vermeer’s art? Let me know in the comments.

Thank you for reading Philosophy: I Need It. If you enjoyed it and want to see more content, consider supporting me by clicking the button below. Every dollar counts.

[1] - https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/press/rijksmuseum-s-vermeer-exhibition-most-successful-in-its-history