marvel at their luminescent beauty
And here I thought they only made heavy equipment. 
I have had a chance to see his work, one of the greats, and the best with light.
Why is she pouring water on the stained-glass window? 
djm
Why is the lady in the first painting holding a trombone?
(But you’re definitely right about capturing the light.)
Susan
Why is it that most paintings of this type have the window on the left? (Or am I just imagining this tendency?)
Note the maps used as backgrounds in both paintings. This theme figured prominently in his work, and seems to have reflected a general Dutch “map-mania” going on at the time:
It’s not stained glass and she is getting ready to empty her commode pitcher onto some poor unsuspecting bloke on the street below.
Because she left her tuba at home.
Wasn’t Vermeer one of the first artists to use true perspective in his pictures?
The Dutch were somewhat renowned for their mania’s during the 17th century. The Bulb Mania which led to the Bulb Bubble Crash. Thank goodness we have outgrown such nonsense. 
Don’t know if he was one of the first, but I was noticing the tiles in the first painting…definitely had his perspective spot on.
Susan
I wonder if he’s making fun of painters (and himself) by showing the painter’s model in a fairly silly, overly self conscious pose.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Vermeer used lenses and a kind of camera obscura to project his images. Hence his photographic perspectives.
You do know his common theme was painting himself into corners?
double post sorry
Dutch painters of the day were considered the best when it came to painting “light”. …and please, please don’t bring up the modern day “painter of light”- that would be sacrilege.
You know, I absolutely love Vermeer’s paintings, but looking at a bunch of them like this, I find one annoying thing: the creases in clothing are so sharply delineated that in some cases the fabric looks like paper.
“The Girl with the Pearl Earring” is one of my all-time favorite paintings.
Susan
Having looked at the other paintings posted in the thread, I think there may be something to my theory.
All the other paintings are posed in ways that look natural. And all the other paintings are images of people doing everyday things or just hanging around looking normal.
The only painting where the posing looks silly is the one with a painter painting the silly posed person, who would have been posed in that silly way not by Vermeer, but by the painter in his picture. I think the man had a sense of humor.
Best wishes,
Jerry
