Gezicht op huizen in Delft, bekend als 'Het straatje'

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)

Today Johannes Vermeer is one of the most celebrated Dutch painters of the seventeenth century. For centuries, however, he remained an obscure figure. His few pictures - only 35 are known - were attributed to other artists. It was only in the 1870s that he was rediscovered and his works heralded as genuine Vermeers. Little is known about the artist's life. He was born in 1632, the son of a silk worker with a taste for buying and selling art. Vermeer himself was also active in the art trade. He lived and worked in Delft all his life. Not much is known about Vermeer's apprenticeship as an artist either. He may have been taught by the painter Carel Fabritius of Delft. In 1653 he enrolled at the local artists guild.