Street in Delft

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Street in Delft (Jan Vermeer)
Street in Delft
Jan Vermeer , approx. 1658–1660
Oil on canvas
54.3 x 44 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

“Street in Delft” is an oil painting by the Dutch painter Jan Vermeer . It is one of two cityscapes known from Vermeer. It was created around 1658–1660, is 54.3 centimeters high and 44 centimeters wide. Today the picture belongs to the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and is exhibited there alongside three other works by Vermeer.

Surname

The painting is called in Dutch " Gezicht op huizen in Delft" (German "View of houses in Delft"); this is also the oldest known name. It is better known as "Het straatje" ("the little street"). In German the name “Street in Delft” is common. The translation “small street” is misleading because neither the street shown nor the buildings are small for the time.

Image description

A street can be seen in the foreground, the cobblestones of which are indicated with wavy brushstrokes. On this street, in the right half of the picture, there is a frontal view of a multi-story house. It has a partially damaged brick facade with a stepped gable with incisions. Repairs and wall anchors suggest that the house is already old and was built in the Middle Ages, probably before the great city fire of 1536 and the Delft thunderclap of 1654. The lower floor is very high, which speaks against a private residence. The facade leads to the extension or the neighboring house at a low level on the left. In between there are two entrances to courtyards and further buildings in the background.

Most of the shutters in the large house are closed; the viewer can only see inside through the open door. In the doorway sits a woman who is busy with needlework. Two people kneel in front of the house whose faces cannot be seen. It could be children; what they are doing cannot be seen. Another woman can be seen through the open, beamed passage to the courtyard, possibly a maid, leaning over a washing tub. From there water flows down to the street and continues towards the viewer, which indicates the location on a canal .

The four characters have no narrative connection with one another. This also makes the picture look particularly calm. It looks very realistic thanks to Vermeer's precise technique, the perspective and the chosen colors.

Location in Delft

Vlamingstraat in Delft

The location of the street shown has long been a topic of research and is still controversial today. Usually a location on Voldersgracht in Delft behind Vermeer's birthplace was assumed. A little later, the seat of the Guild of Luke , to which Vermeer belonged, was established here. At the end of the 20th century, references to the Delft Street Nieuwe Langendijk No. 22-26 were found. A search based on a Delft register with the exact widths of all canal houses in Vermeer's time led to the Vlamingstraat in 2015. There the view is said to correspond to today's house numbers 40 and 42, and the house on the right is said to have belonged to Vermeer's aunt, who sold Rumen (“Penspoort”, Rumen gate). This thesis has been vehemently advocated by the Rijksmuseum since 2015, but is questioned by other scientists. It is also conceivable that the painting is composed of motifs from different locations.

Provenance

At the beginning of the 20th century, the painting was in the Collectie Six named after the art collector Jan Six . Six's heirs demanded a million guilders for the work. Finally, in 1921 , Henri WA Deterding acquired the picture for 625,000 guilders from the collection and donated it to the Dutch state. Upon request, the picture will be exhibited in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Rijksmuseum: Gezicht op huizen in Delft. Retrieved July 9, 2020 (Dutch).
  2. ↑ a b c Rijksmuseum: Location of the street in Delft by Vermeer. November 19, 2015, accessed July 9, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Adres van Het Straatje van Vermeer ontdekt. Rijksmuseum, November 19, 2015, accessed July 9, 2020 (Dutch).
  4. ↑ Kees Kaldenbach: Nieuwe Langendijk No. 22–26? An art historical look at an archaeological and architectural history investigation . In: The preservation of monuments . tape 60 , no. 1 , 2002, p. 21-28 .
  5. ↑ Kees Kaldenbach: Johannes Vermeer's The Little Street - What is it located in Delft at Nieuwe Langendijk 22-26? December 8, 2000, accessed September 13, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Kunsthistorici: Vlamingstraat is not the 'Straatje van Vermeer'. In: Delftse Post. June 23, 2017, accessed July 9, 2020 (Dutch).
  7. ↑ Philip Steadman: Vermeer's The Little Street: A More Credible Detective Story. 2015, accessed on July 9, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Gert Eijkelboom, Gerrit Vermeer: Het Straatje van Vermeer - Bedenkingen bij de vermeende postcode . In: Tijdschrift voor historical geography . tape 2 , no. 2 , 2017, ISSN  2468-2187 , p. 66-80 (Dutch).
  9. ↑ Information on rijksmuseum.nl ( Memento of the original from October 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rijksmuseum.nl
  10. ↑ Ben Broos, Arthur K. Wheelock (Ed.): Vermeer. The complete work. Belser, Stuttgart 1995. page 107.

literature

Web links