Vermeer's View of Delft and His Vision of Reality

"Vermeer's View of Delft" and His Vision of Reality
Author(s): Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and C. J. Kaldenbach

Source: Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 3, No. 6 (1982), pp. 9-35
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ARTHURK. WHEELOCKJR., C.J. KALDENBACH
Vermeer's View of Delft and his Vision of Reality.
Vermeer's View of Delft [Fig. 1] is a glorious image of a indelible image motivated him to attempt a reconstruction
city, so lifelike yet so hauntingly still and different that it of the oeuvre of this, to him, totally unknown painter.
never ceases to amaze the viewer'. It is as though we are He wrote: "In the museum of the Hague, a superb,
seeing the city on a Sunday morning before the activity of unique landscape stops visitors and keenly impresses artists
life overwhelms the quiet beauty of the setting. The few and connoisseurs of painting. It is a view of a town, with a
people seen standing quietly talking on the near shore and quai, an old portal, the buildings of a varied architecture,
those wandering on the quai on the opposite bank do not garden walls, trees, and in the foreground, a canal and a
disturb the serenity of the scene2. Behind the city wall, sun- strip of land with several small figures. The silver "gray of
light, streaming in from the east, illuminates the gates and the sky and the tones of the water call to mind Philip
bridge, catching the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk and the Koninck. The burst of light, and intensity of color, the sol-
orange tile roofs of the densely packed houses. idity of impasto in certain areas, the hyper-real yet very
The impact of this painting on a viewer seeing it for the original effect also recalls something of Rembrandt".".
first time is perhaps best expressed by Thor6-Birger in his Thor6, however, was not the first to notice View of Delft
article on Vermeer, written in 18863. Thor6 discovered View or to recognize its qualities. In 1822, when the painting was
of Delft while visiting the Mauritshuisand later wrote that its bought for the Mauritshuis,the sales catalogue described it
1 Thisarticleis the resultof collaborationbetweenWheelock, standing,fromthe fashionableattireof the threeburghersstanding

who has analyzedthe paintingby Vermeer,and Kaldenbachwho by the boat, to the simplerregionalor peasantgarmentof black
has providedinformationabout the setting as it appearedin Ver- skirts and jackets with white collars and shoulder cloths of the
meer'stimeand subsequently.Thearticlecould not havebeen writ- otherwomen.A figureof a manjust to the rightof the two women
ten withoutthe generouscooperationof the Directorof the Maurits- was paintedout by Vermeer.Information on the costumeshas been
huis, Dr. H.R. Hoetink.Arrangementsto examine the paintingat kindlysuppliedby Ms. M.de Jong of the CostumeMuseumin the
the Mauritshuiswere also facilitatedby the kind assistance of Hague.
F.J.M.Jehee and Drs.F.J. Duparc. 3 W. Thor'-BOrger, "Van der Meer de Delft", Gazette des
2 Vermeerincludedabout fifteen
figures in his painting.The Beaux-Arts,XXI,1866,297-330,458-70,543-75.
costumesof the six figuresin the foregrounddesignatetheirsocial 4
Ibid., 298.

as "the most famous painting of this master, whose works recognizable, the stillness of the scene would have been
seldom occur; the way of painting is the most audacious, uncharacteristic. Even though Vermeer includes a large
powerful and masterly that one can image" . number of boats in this scene, only the small transport craft
The intent of this article is to examine the nature of in the left foreground and the two larger herring ships
Vermeer's image, both to understand the manner in which moored at the shipyards at the right are immediately evi-
he created such a naturalistic impression and how he has dent6. The other boats are all moored alongside the far edge
transformed a topographical view into one that is powerful of the water, where they visually blend with the background
and audacious in the way Thor6-Burgerand others have de- since Vermeer has rendered their colors and textures so
scribed. The audacious quality of the painting evolves from similar to those of the adjacent quais, city walls and build-
the bold silhouette of the city against the sky, the reflections ings. Clearly, Vermeer subordinated the commercial and
of the buildings in the water; and above all, from the drama- mercantile activities of the area to focus on Delft's distinc-
tic use of light to focus the composition and articulate the tive architectural character.
space. The scene seems bathed in light, yet in fact only the The question remains as to whether Vermeer was as
background buildings are directly illuminated by the sun. consciously selective in his depictions of buildings as he
The dark clouds that cover and close the upper reaches of was in his representations of shipping in the harbor. This
the sky effectively shade the roofs and fagades of the nearby work has generally been described as being topographically
buildings, water and foreground figures. accurate and many have speculated that he created such an
Vermeer's painting represents the city of Delft as seen accurate image by using an optical device called a camera
from the south. Beyond the harbor that lies before the town obscura. Indeed, close comparisons with old maps and
stand the city walls that are broken only by the small Kethel town plans convincingly reinforce the sensation that Ver-
Gate, which is adjacent to the large Schiedam Gate with its meer has carefully rendered the city's appearance from its
clock tower, the bridge, and the Rotterdam Gate with its southern side. Not only are the distinctive gates and the
twin towers on the front gate. The site was an important one tower of the Nieuwe Kerkidentificable, but other elements as
for 17th-century Delft since from this area roads and water- well. A wash drawing of a view along the quai before the
ways extended to Rotterdam, Schiedam and Delfshaven. southern city wall by Jan de Bisschop presents one other
Maps from the period, including Blaeu's Groundplan of view of the Schiedam and Rotterdam Gates [Fig. 4]. This
Delft from 1649 [Fig. 2] and the large Figurative Map of Delft drawing also helps us understand the complex shape of the
[Fig. 3] from 1675-78 show this harborto be filled with boats Kethel Gate just to the left of the Schiedam Gate that is ac-
not only lined up at the quai, but also sailing down the curately portrayed, although somewhat indistinctly, in Ver-
Schie. meer's painting. From Vermeer's vantage point we can see
For any of Vermeer's contemporaries, however, the na- the fagades of buildings lining the three canals that branch
ture of the View of Delft must have seemed particularlyun- out just beyond the bridge. These are evident to the left and
usual. Although the location would have been immediately right of the Schiedam gate [See figs. 2 and 3]. The facades
5 May27, 1822,no. 112.Quoted

S.J. StinstraSale,Amsterdam, the rudderand the red and white canvas tent-like structure over the
in Albert Blankert (with contributions by Rob Ruurs and Willem L. hold. On the far right are two three-masted herring ships with rela-
van de Watering),Vermeerof Delft, Oxford, 1978, 159. tively flat decks and hinged masts. Not all of the masts are visible in
6
Although they are not the focus of attention, a variety of ac the painting; however, their absence may indicate that the boats are
curately rendered marine craft are depicted in the composition. being worked on at the shipyard. When lowered, the foremast and
main mast can rest on the horizontal beam on the afterdeck. Amid-
Sailing ships including fishing and transport ships are represented.
Along the quai on the left are at least four sailing ships; to the right ship, on deck level, we can vaguely see the opening through which
of the bridge are five small towboats that would have been used for the long herring nets are pulled at sea [Fig. 9]. We are grateful to
regular transportation of people and small commodities. On three Mr. Robert Vorstman of the Amsterdam MaritimeMuseum and to
boats masts are visible, painted with 'barber sign stripes', diagon- Mr.J. Ploeg for informationconcerning these boats. For further in-
ally wound at various tensions. Views produced by other artists formation on Dutch marine craft, see Irene de Groot and Robert
show similar masts [Fig. 27]. Either the tow rope was attached to Vorstman,Sailing Ships, Maarssen, 1981 and J. Ploeg, "Speurtocht
the mast, or, in a favorable wind, a sail was raised. The tow boat in naar haringbuizen", in Mededelingen van de Nederlandse Verenig-
the foreground is more detailed. We see the simple, low stern with ing voor Zeevaartgeschiedenis, no. 25, 1972.
10

1) Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), "View of Delft", c. 1660, Mauritshuis, The Hague.
11

DFLrE: I BBATAV03tVM
I I~ ~DE LFE T ,~*
Ilk
411
~6,BA1 1 I 1 s
.W +01 -4P
.1 %1
S? z
Lk'4.
rw 4pii:
.6 lip, ea Q 4 ~, k*
't 4p
tP 45 '
;9p IIp f.1LI
1p~rk IL
It i
Z 1. A- ~p tj 44 !!rc
2) Groundplan of Delft, from Joan Blaeu, "Tooneel der Steden van de Vereenighde Nederlanden", Amsterdam,1649.
of the buildings on the Kethelstraatjust behind the city wall ments seem to be accurately portrayed.Nevertheless, as will
on the left, are accurate. A reconstruction of their appear- be discussed below, these same comparisons with old maps
ance from a number of sources, including an old map called and town plans, as well as technical examinations of the
the Kadastrale Minuut (c. 1830) made by Mr.W.F. Weve cor- painting itself, have revealed that Vermeer made a number
relates almost exactly with Vermeer's image7 [Fig. 5]. The of small adjustments in his depiction of the site to enhance
distant multi-spired tower in the left center of the composi- its pictorial image.
tion, which rises just beyond the dark cone-shaped spire, The realism of the scene comes not only from the rec-
belongs to the Oude Kerk. All of these architectural ele- ognizable shapes of the structures but also from the
12

41 N- Mrt
1k1
7s;
?L? -rfkw -ALF,!
3) Detail of Groundplan of Delft from the "Figurative Map of Delft", 1675-78 (2nd impression, 1702), Stedelijk Museum,
" Het Prinsenhof", Delft.
truthfullness of their textures. One finds an extraordinary One of his most successful effects are the red tiled
range of effects that capture the rough hewn character of roofs along the left side of the painting. Here he has ren-
the orange tile and blue slate roofs, stone, brick and mortar dered the rough, broken quality of their surface by overlay-
walls of the buildings and bridges, leafy trees and wooden ing a thin reddish-brown layer with numerous small dabs of
boats. Vermeer never precisely delineates these materials red, brown, and blue paint [Fig. 6]. These dots of paint are
but devises a variety of means for suggesting their tactile not blended into the underlying layer but are juxtaposed in
characteristics. such a way that their very irregularity helps suggest the
7 Just above the town wall we can discern a row of small see becauseof a tree.(Thepresent-dayhouse bearsthe sign '1670'
houses, most of themwithsteppedgables.Thethreehouses to the on the whitefagade).Rightof this, a partof a spout gable is visible,
leftoccupythe sites whichare now Kethelstreet6, 8, 10, or, poss- and nextto it a biggersteppedgable.Nextto this we can onlysee a
ibly,4, 6, and 8. Figure5 shows a double projectionof the present roofsince the fagadeis hiddenby a tree. Finally,we see the corner
day fa;ades and the houses Vermeerpainted.This drawingde- house, the fagade of which faces the canal. The dark blue roofs
monstratesthatVermeerrenderedthis blockwithprecision.To the belongto a house and a shed directlyon the townwall,on ourside
rightof the threesmallsteppedgables is a house whichwe cannot of the Kethelstreet.
13

4) Jan de Bisshop (1628-1671), "View of Rotterdam Gate, Delft", 27 May 1667, Amsterdam Historisch Museum, C.J. Fodor
Bequest, Amsterdam.
roughness of the roof. Augmenting this effect is the manner of the Rotterdam Gate is relativelysmooth, with white high-
in which Vermeer enhanced the grainy quality of the tile lights dotting the surface to enliven it. The chimneys, how-
roof with small bumps which protrude from the surface. ever, are rendered in a technique similar to that used on the
These bumps are large particles of lead white paint that red roofs on the left, including the lumps of lead white that
Vermeer either applied to the ground in this area or mixed protrude through the reddish layer.
with the thin reddish layer that established the base color Visible upon close examination is the fact that Vermeer
for the roof. changed his mind about the color of the yellow roof above
These effects are quite different from those seen in the the RotterdamGate [Fig. 8]; he painted a dense yellow layer,
sunlit roofs where he has minimized individualnuances of the similar in texture to that of the Nieuwe Kerk, over the
tile. Here one sees a relatively uniform surface, although salmon color used in the distant roof tops.
Vermeer has emphasized the physical presence of the tiles His painting technique differs again in the boat depicted
by using a thick bumpy layer of salmon-colored paint. The in the lower right; here Vermeer painted highlights that do
impastos of these sunlit roofs are even more strikingly evi- not suggest texture [Fig. 9]. Indeed, the diffuse highlights
dent in the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk. Vermeer has almost often obscure the underlying structure rather than reinforce
sculpted the sunlit portions of the tower with a heavy appli- it. They seem intended to suggest flickering reflections from
cation of lumpy lead tin yellow paint [Fig. 7]. The blue roof the water onto the boat. Painted in a variety of ochers, grays
14

-30 mm --32 mm ------71 mm 213 mm
27 146mm
mm-
-
0 0
0SSS
I 0
0.0
28
828 4.05-- 3.85 4j-- 423 7.56 11.03 13.61 m
0 1 2 3 4 5 10
LL rL
Iiiii ?lllnl n i nll lnlll Ii ln ,
.~
5) Reconstruction drawing of fagades along the Kethelstraat, by W.F. Weve, 1983.
and whites, these highlights cover a larger area and have a the artists who produced profiles), but with transforming it
more regular contour than the dots we observed on the red into an image that was effective as a work of art.
tile roofs. Over these diffuse highlights Vermeer painted As has been mentioned, Vermeer, in giving dramatic
more opaque ones, some of which were apparently applied impact to his work, emphasized the city's silhouette against
wet in wet. the light sky. He not only darkened the foreground buildings
Vermeer's interest in implying textures and effects of but accentuated their contours using a purely artificial de-
light by actually varying the painting technique underscores vice - a white line in the sky that can be seen just above
his intent on making images as realistic as possible. many of the roofs, most clearly above the Schiedam Gate. In
Nevertheless, certain techniques of painting, compositional the center distance Vermeer has tied together the diverse
distortions and alterations in topography indicate that Ver- roof lines with a pale blue horizontal shape that is meant to
meer was not primarilyconcerned with imitating reality (like read as a roof, but which has no relationship to the reality
15

6) Detail of red roofs on the left of "View of Delft". 7) Detail of tower of Nieuwe Kerk, "View of Delft".
of the situation. The long, horizontal building on the left of thogonals constructed along the Gate, however, join far to
the painting is almost certainly an imaginative construction; the left of the painting, meaning that Vermmer must have
no comparable structure is found in the contemporary city8 consciously flattened their forms.
[Fig. 10]. A pen drawing of the same site from the early 18th cen-
In all of these changes, Vermeer sought to simplify the tury by the topographical artist A. Rademaker offers an in-
cityscape by emphasizing the parallel nature of the build- teresting comparison [Fig. 12]. Although Rademaker's van-
ings' orientation. If one compares the site with a section of tage point is slightly closer and lower than Vermeer's, his
the large Figurative Map of Delft that was executed in the view in other respects is comparable. His interpretation of
mid-1670's, one sees that the topography is more irregular the scene, however, is different. In his drawing the covered
than Vermeer suggests [Fig. 3]. The twin towers of the portion of the Rotterdam Gate projects forward, thereby
Rotterdam Gate, for example, project far out into the water. creating a more three-dimensional composition. Part of this
The extent to which they project can clearly be seen in two effect comes from the perspective, part from the detailed
drawings by Josua de Grave in which the gate is seen articulation of architectural elements, and part from the ef-
from a location to the far right of Vermeer's painting [Fig. fect of shadows on these buildings. Rademaker, like many
11]. Vermeerflattened the angle of the Gate by distorting the other artists who depicted this area, emphasized the hori-
perspective. The building is virtually at right angles to the zontal bands on the side of the Rotterddm Gate that were
picture plane and, to be consistent with the rest of the com- made by alternating levels of brick and light-colored natural
position, he should have drawn the focal point of the stone, whereas Vermeer merely suggested their presence
perspective so that it would fall slightly left of center. Or- with a series of shifting light colored dots of paint. Interest-
The somewhatmoretrustworthy KaartFiguratief(1675)shows the

8 This long horizontalbuildingcould be an adaptationof the front house roof higherthan the back house roof. All these views
big backhouseof the brewery'The Parrot'(De Papegaey),to which are of limitedprecision,for their aim was to show off, not to be
the slender tower belongs. Dutch houses were sometimes ex- accurate.The artistswho made preparatory drawingswere under-
panded front-to-backbecause of a constant lack of space within paidand had no (timefor) interestin the shape of thingsbehindthe
the town walls.On the map calledKadastraleMinuutfromc. 1830, fagades.Housesweresystematically drawnoversizedso thatless of
this complex of buildingsis shown five propertyunits from the themfittedon a given block.Rademaker's drawingshows the back
corner house on the Kethelstreet. The bird'seye view maps by house lowerthanthe fronthouse [Fig.12].A less probablealterna-
Blaeu (1649) [Fig. 2], and the version of this map by Jansonius tive would be to considerthe big roof as part of the East India
(c. 1650)supportthis identificationfor a sizeableroof can be seen House.The distanceis muchgreaterand the slendertowerwould
which runsfromthe canalall the wayto the back,at the citywall. conflictwiththis identification.
16

8) Detail of yellow roof behind Rotterdam Gate from 9) Detail of boats, lower right of "View of Delft".
"View of Delft".
ingly, examination of the painting with x-radiography [Fig. together than Vermeer does [See figs. 12, 15]. Some artists,
13] and infra-red reflectography [Fig. 14] has shown that however, wanted to show more buildings within their
Vermeer initially painted the twin towers of the Rotterdam frames and compressed the scene. All topographical views
Gate in bright sunlight9. In his original conception the pro- of this scene vary slightly, however, and no single view can
nounced liiht and shadow effects on the towers were comp- be relied upon for its accuracy. Even such a precise and
parable to those seen in Rademaker's drawing. detailed drawing as that by GerritToorenburgh (1737-1785)
Comparison of View of Delft with Rademaker's drawing seems to be wrong in the position of the Nieuwe Kerk
illustrates other differences; in the latter, the profile of the [Fig. 18].
city is more jagged and uneven and buildings are taller, nar- When a structure such as the armament warehouse, the
rower and set more closely together. A mid-eighteenth cen- large building behind and to the left of the Schiedam Gate,
tury print after a drawing by C. Pronk shows similar charac- had a very complex roof shape [Fig. 19], Vermeer minimized
teristics: narrow, closely set buildings with a jagged city its complexity by eliminating orthogonals that would
profile [Fig. 15]. Vermeer made numerous modifications in suggest recession in space and by coloring it uniformly.An
his city view to simplify and harmonize its appearance. To x-ray of this area demonstrates that he arrived at this sol-
emphasize the horizontals of the cityscape, he apparently ution only after blocking out the roofs in a much more
straightened the bowed arch of the bridge. One may com- three-dimensional fashion [Fig. 20]. As with the Rotterdam
pare, for example, the bridge in Vermeer's painting to a Gate, he had initiallyaccented portions of the roof by paint-
drawing by Josua de Grave, 1695, showing the bridge from ing these in strong sunlight1.
the inside of the city [Fig. 16]10. It is uncertain whether Ver- Finally the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk,while strikingly il-
meer also elongated the bridge as well. Most views of the luminated, is not as physically large as one might expect, its
city from the south place the two gates somewhat closer height and width varying greatly in the views of various art-
fence is depicted[Fig. 15], and in the nineteenthcenturya bridge

9 Theexaminationof the Viewof Delftwitheinfra-redreflecto- witha pointedmiddleis seen (cf. Jan VanLexmond,Viewof Delft,
graphywas kindlyundertakenby Dr.J.R.J. vanAsperende Boer in coll. MuseumSimonvan Gijn,Dordrecht). Overthe bridge'sarchin
collaborationwith ArthurWheelock.Fora short discussion of the Vermeer'scompositionis a stone withan inscriptionwhichis inde-
implicationsof reflectographyfor examinationof Vermeer'spaint- cipherable.Moreviewsof this site havebeen publishedin "Gezicht
ings, see Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., "Vermeer's Painting op Delftin de 17e en 18e eeuw" by C.J. Kaldenbachin DelftIII(see
Techniques",ArtJournal,XLI,no. 2, 1981,162-64. Researchsources).
10 In the eighteenth 1 Observationof ArthurWheelock.
century,a curved bridge with a metal
17

10) Detail of profile view of Delft (southwest corner of the city), from the "Figurative Map of Delft", 1675-78 (2nd impres-
sion, 1702). Stedelijk Museum, "Het Prinsenhof", Delft.
ists. For example, in a rather picturesque view by Jan de to emphasize its distance from the foreground plane. It also
Beyer (1703-1780), from 1750, the tower is extremely high blends more successfully with the horizontality of the com-
[Fig. 21]. Nevertheless, specific measurements of the pro- position than it would were it slightly larger.
portions of the existing building in comparison to the paint- Aside from topographical changes and changes in light
ing suggest that the tower should be either less wide, or effects, Vermeer made a number of adjustments in the boats
higher in Vermeer's work to be totally accurate. Although and reflections in the water that further enhance the strong
the spire burned down in 1872, and was replaced with a horizontal orientation of the scene. Infra-redreflectography
somewhat taller neo-gothic one, the size of the base re- reveals that Vermeer made a fascinating alteration in the
mained the same and accurate calculations based on con- position of the herring boats on the far right of the composi-
temporary photographs of the site can be made12 [Fig. 22]. tion [Fig. 14]. He originally painted both boats somewhat
Vermeer may have minimized the scale of the Nieuwe Kerk smaller; he enlarged the stern of the foreground boat and
12
Comparedto the total widthof the View of Delft (1175mm.)
the tower (c. 61-62 mm)occupies about 1/19thpartof the width. tions have been madeby Mr.Kaldenbachon the basis of a photo-
Comparedto present-dayphotographstakenfromnearVermeer's graphhe took in 1981witha 40 mmwideangle (diagonalangle570)
pointof view,Vermeer'stoweris two timestoo wide.These calcula- lens fromthe thirdfloorof the buildingHooikade29.
18

11) Josua de Grave (active 1660-1712), "The Rotterdam 11a) Josua de Grave, "The Rotterdam Gate", fol. 53,
Gate", fol. 55, 1695, "Album Rademaker", Municipal 1695, "Album Rademaker", Municipal Archives, Delft.
Archives, Delft.
the bow of the second. The most significant change is with been made that Vermeer used the camera obscura to create
the foreground boat which once ended just before the front a topographically accurate image, such clearly was not the
face of the Rotterdam Gate. The original reflection in the case. In a broader sense, however, he might have viewed the
water of this first idea can be seen in the reflectogram. By image produced by the camera obscura as a means of en-
extending the rear of this boat backwards and to the left, hancing the illusion of reality in his painting.
Vermeer minimized its recession into space as he had by As has been noted in the literature,Vermeer could have
altering the perspective of the Rotterdam Gate. seen such a view of Delft from the second story of a house
A further important change in the composition, visible situated across the harbor from the Schiedam and Rotter-
in x-rays and infra-red reflectography, was the adjustment of dam gates. Such a house can actually be seen on old maps,
the reflection of the twin towers of the Rotterdam Gate and recent scientific projections of his viewpoint have rein-
[Figs. 13, 14] . The original reflections denoted the architec- forced that hypothesis13. Of course, no documentary evi-
tural forms of the building on the far shore quite precisely.
In his final design, however, Vermeer extended them down-
ward so that they intersect with the bottom edge of the pic- 13 Scientific measurementby Mr. W.F. Weve of the Delft
ture. The effect of the combined reflection of the Rotterdam Polytechnic,calculatedon large scale maps of the area and on a
Gate towers and the Schiedam Gate in the center (both of reproductionof the painting,have been used to attempta determi-
which reach the foreground shore) is to bind the city profile nation of the specific site from which Vermeerpainted.Tracing
and foreground elements in a subtle yet essential manner. along close approximationsof recognizablepoints on the struc-
tures and allowingthatall lines of visionwilldeviateto some small
The reflections, which function almost as shadows, give degree, the scientists'findingssuggest that Vermeerwas located
added weight and solemnity to the mass of buildings along the withina house on the presentday Hooikadeor Zuideinde.A house
far shore. Moreover, beyond anchoring these structures in appearson thatsite on an old map,the KadastraleMinuut(c. 1830).
Prof.TemminckGrolladvisedMr.Weveon the workingmethod.
the foreground, the exaggerated reflections of specific por- Three lines of vision (D, E, H) have been drawnon the map
tions of the city profile create accents that establish a sec- with long stripes. Line H starts from the NieuweKerktower and
ondary visual pattern of horizontals, verticals and diagonals extendsjustto the leftof the Rotterdam Gate.LinesD and E startat
across the scene. the outer gables of the Armamentarium and pass througheither
Such modifications in topography and intentional com- sides of the Kethelgate. Fromtheirintersectiona circlewas drawn.
LinesC, E, G, I startfromcalculatedpointson the circle and
positional adjustments thus force us to reconsider the as- touch other recoignizabledetails of architecturethat appear on
sumptions that we bring to this work. If the View of Delft Vermeer'spainting.LineB startsfromthe Oude Kerk,line F from
does indeed vary slightly from topographical exactitude, the Armamentarium. No attempt has been made to correct the
KadastraleMinuutin orderto rule out furtherdeviations.Forthis
how are we to approach the question of Vermeer's use of reason,the frontgate of the RotterdamGate has been left out of
the camera obscura? Although the assumption has often this map.
19

12) Abraham Rademaker (1675-1735), "View of Delft with Schiedam and Rotterdam Gates", n.d., Stedelijk Museum,
"Het Prinsenhof", Delft.
dence indicates whether or not Vermeer actually set up a fects of atmospheric perspective. In the View of Delft, all of
camera obscura in this location or if even he painted his these phenomena are present. Contrasts of light and dark
scene there. Nevertheless, the hypothesis that Vermeer used are pronounced, colors are vivid and atmospheric perspec-
the camera obscura at some stage in his working process tive is negligible.
gains validity because of the distinctive effects of light, Along the far shore of the Schie, particularly on the
color, atmosphere and diffusion of highlights along the far boat, numerous diffused highlights appear that compare
shore. closely to those seen in unfocused images of a camera
Camera obscuras were widely acclaimed in the 17th obscura. Vermeer,from almost the beginning of his career, ar-
century for the naturalistic landscape effects that they ticulated his images with small dabs or globules of paint to
created'14.A measure of their effectiveness comes from the enhance textural effects. The diffused highlights on the
fact that they present a living image, where movements of boat, however, are different in View of Delft than they are in
clouds, water and birds are visible; the apparent realism, his other works from the late 1650's and early 1660's, with
however, is also derived from the vividness of the image. the possible exception of The Milkmaidin the Rijksmuseum,
Color accents and contrasts of light and dark are intensified Amsterdam. Not only are they more diffuse than in other
and apparently exaggerated through the use of a camera paintings, they are unrelated to texture. Their purpose is to
obscura, thus giving an added intensity to the image. This suggest flickering reflections off the water. Such reflections
phenomenon has the subsidiary property of minimizing ef- would appear as diffuse circular highlights in an unfocused
14 For discussion of Vermeerand the camera obscura see: titudestowardsthe CameraObscura",Historyof Photography,1,
ArthurK.Wheelock,Jr.,Perspective,Optics,andDelftArtistsaround 1977, 93-103; Idem., Jan Vermeer, New York, 1982, 33-39, 94-96.
1650, New York,1977. Idem., "ConstatijnHuygensand EarlyAt-
20

13) X-ray detail of "View of Delft".
21

14) Infra-red reflectogram of Rotterdam Gate in "View of Delft".
22

15) J.C. Philips (engraver), after C. Pronk, "View of Delft", from Isaac Tirion, "Hedendaagse Historie of de Tegen Woor-
dige Staat van alle volkeren", 1742, IV,428.
image of a camera obscura, and would appear only in sun- teristics he was seeking. His realism is thus of a most pro-
light, not in the shadows as they are here painted. Thus, found type. While he has sought to translate the rich var-
even when it seems that he used such a device, Vermeer ieties of shape, materials and textures of the physical world
modified and adjusted its image for compositional reasons. through his painting techniques, he has also given these ob-
Vermeer apparently responded to such visual stimulae jects an aura and significance beyond the limited confines
from a camera obscura and recognized that the optical ef- of time and place.
fects reinforced both the naturalistic and expressive charac- The View of Delft is unique in Vermeer's oeuvre. Al-
23

16) Josua de Grave, "City faGades of the Rotterdam and Schiedam Gates", 1695, fol. 51 R, "Album Rademaker",
Municipal Archives, Delft.
though The Little Street in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam Abrahams. Dissius. An 1682 inventory of his collection con-
also depicts an exterior scene of buildings, it is a far more tained no fewer than nineteen paintings by Vermeer, al-
intimate work than this large and imposing picture. The though, unfortunately, none were specifically identified16.
View of Delft is also, as far as is known, the earliest view of Whether or not Dissius purchased these directly from Ver-
the city from this vantage point. We must address the issue, meer during his lifetime or from Vermeer's widow or
then, of how it came to be painted. We have no record of a mother-in-law sometime after his death in 1675 is unknown.
commission and, indeed, no mention of the painting's exis- In any event, no evidence suggests that the painting was
tence prior to 1696, the year that it appeared in an Amster- executed on commission from the St. Luke's Guild or any
dam sale as "De Stad Delft in perspectief, te sien van de other civic body.
Zuyd-zy, door J. vander Meer van Delft"'15 It is likely that the Lacking specific evidence of a commission and with
painting, as well as most of the twenty others by Vermeer the distinct possibility that the View of Delft remained in
that appeared in this sale belonged to the bookprinterJacob Vermeer's possession throughout his life, one hesitates to
'5 Blankert,Vermeer,document no. 62, 153. HistorischMuseum,Amsterdamand TheArtGalleryof Ontario,To-

16 For excellent discussions of the traditionof Dutch city ronto,1977;ChristopherBrown,DutchTownscape,London,1974,
views, see Wattenmaker,et. al., The Dutch Cityscape in the Seven- WalterA. Liedtke,"Pridein Perspective:The DutchTownscape",
teenth Century and its Sources, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, Connoisseur,April,1979,266-273.
24

I~C4crct-L'
?'~ t4~iL f*rC~lj~ ,s6
16a) Josua de Grave, "City fagades of the Rotterdam and Schiedam Gates", 1695, fol. 51 V, "Album Rademaker",
Municipal Archives, Delft.
speculate on Vermeer's motivation for painting this work; number of topographical views were painted early in the
nevertheless, certain observations may be offered. In the century, among which are two scenes of Delft by Hendrick
broadest sense, Vermeer chose a format that was familiar Vroom, specific town portraits are found only infrequently
through cartographic traditions - a profile view of a city by midcentury17.In the early 1650's, however, artists in Delft
was often found accompanying its larger ground plan. Such began to focus on the major architectural monuments of the
a profile is found, for example, on the large Figurative Map city, in particular the Oude Kerk and the Nieuwe Kerk. A
of Delft [Fig. 24]. These profile views of cities, however, dynamic school of architectural painting emerged as Gerard
generally emphasized the city's most distinctive landmarks. Houckgeest, Emanuel de Witte, and Hendrick van Vliet de-
In the case of Delft, that vantage point is from the west picted a wide range of interior views of these vast spaces.
where the towers of both the Oude Kerk and Nieuwe Kerk Also during the 1650's the city itself became an important
dominate the city's profile. Vermeer's view in this respect is backdrop for portraits (Jan Steen, The Burgher of Delft and
uncharacteristic of topographic tradition since it does not His Daughter, p.c. Great Britain) and genre scenes (Carel
sufficiently highlight these distinctive monuments of the Fabritius, View of Delft with a Musical Instrument Seller's
city. In his painting the tower of the Oude Kerkcan barely be Stall, National Gallery, London; Pieter de Hooch, A Dutch
discerned in the distant left center of the composition.
Painted city views occur only sporadically throughout Beschryvingeder Stadt Delft, Delft,
17 Dirckvan Bleyswijck,
the first half of the seventeenth century. Although a certain 1667,647.
25

17) Abraham de Haen 11(1707-1748),"View of Delft", 1744, Teylers Museum, Haarlem.
Courtyard, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.). Ver- of the town and killing many citizens, including the painter
meer's A Little Street is an important work in this tradition, Carel Fabritius.The explosion and its aftermath became the
even though no recognizable monuments are depicted, be- subject of many city views by Delft artists, particularlyDaniel
cause for the first time figures are totally subordinate to the Vosmaer [Fig. 25] and Egbert van der Poel. Although these
quiet beauty of the architectural forms and their textures. pictures have an anecdotal character, the paintings gen-
On October 12, 1654, a disaster occurred in Delft that erally included a panoramic view of the city, including the two
had important consequences for the evolution of Delft archi- vast towers of the Nieuwe Kerkand Oude Kerk.
tectural painting. On that date the gunpowder warehouse Rather than a description of the aftermath of a disaster,
in Delft exploded, devastating a large, northeastern section Vermeer's View of Delft has a totally different character. Al-
26

18) Gerrit Toorenburgh (1737-1785), location unknown; photo in Municipal Archives, Delft.
most as a reaction to the depictions of the effects of the towers like those in the Rotterdam Gate, was altered in
explosion on Delft, he chose a site where no evidence of the 1590-91 and the harbor dug in 1614. The Rotterdam Gate
destruction could be seen. As with the architectural paint- remained intact (with the exception of some aesthetic modi-
ings of the early 1600's, his is the celebration of a city's exis- fications on the city side) until its twin towers were de-
tence; a reminder, through its careful recording of massive molished sometime after 1695 (See figs. 15, 17, 18 and the
gates, walls and church spires, of Delft's old and distin- appendix).
guished history. The Rotterdam and Schiedam gates, which Beyond these shadowed walls and gates, light floods
date to the fourteenth century, had served to control the the city. It strikes in particularthe Nieuwe Kerk,the massive
traffic over land and water, and to defend the city against fifteenth-century gothic structure that stands at one end of
enemy attack [Fig. 26]. After the assassination of Willem the the city's market square. The church was, in fact, the central
Silent in 1584 in Delft and the departure of the Court and the focus of civic life and held additional importance as it
seat of government to The Hague, the threat of militaryat- housed one of the most famous monuments in the Nether-
tack lessened. The Schiedam Gate, which once had twin lands, the Tomb of Willem the Silent. Whether or not Ver-
27

19) Armament Warehouse at Delft, from D. van Bleyswijck, "Beschrijvinge der Stadt Delft", Delft, 1667.
meer's topographical adjustments were symbolically as well cluding Cornelis de Man and Leonaert Bramer to execute
as compositionally motivated are difficult to determine. allegorical works on the art of painting, architecture and
Nevertheless, Vermeer's image of the city is almost reveren- sculpture18. Brameralso painted a series of the LiberalArts,
tial in character. From this viewpoint Delft remains distant with Painting explicitly added to the original seven. In 1667,
and remote, the water obstructing our direct approach to upon the publication of Dirck van Bleyswijck's Beschry-
the far shore. The strong horizontal and vertical emphasis vinge der Stadt Delft, a description and history of the city,
and somber lighting of the foreground elements creates a he chose for his title page design an allegorical figure of
still, contemplative mood. Finally, the light falling on the Fame blowing upon her gilded trumpets. A few years later
church and inner city lends a radiance that draws one to it. the town government commissioned the large Figurative
The likelihood that Vermeer consciously sought to give Map of Delft. In this detailed view of the town, Delft was
a special aura to his view of Delft is reinforced when one shown in its full glory, commanding the surrounding region.
notes the contemporary interest in Delft for glorifying the
city, its sovereignty and its arts. In 1661, the newly refur-
bished St. Luke's Guild commissioned various artists, in- 18
Ibid.. 861-863.
28

20) X-ray detail of center portion of "View of Delft".
29

%S
A IF
.f ?
21) Jan de Beyer (1703-1780), "View of Delft", 1750, collection of P. and N. de Boer Stichting, Amsterdam.
The symbolism of Delft's importance, however, lay not to- of human endeavor that he has achieved through a selected
tally in the impressive scale of the map that hung in the transformation of natural forms.
Burgomaster's room in the city hall. When Bleyswijck ex-
panded upon his book and described the large Figurative
Map of Delft, he focused not on the map but on the APPENDIX
emblematic symbols contained in the frame that surrounded
it.
The following constitute concise histories of the pri-
Such literaryassociations are certainly different in kind
from the more subjective devices used by Vermeer to glorify mary architectural elements depicted in Vermeer's View of
Delft.
Delft and its heritage, but they have at their roots a common
basis. This foundation, that art is more than descriptive, that The Rotterdam Gate, a castle-like type of city gate,
it contains references to essential truths fundamental to was built in the 14th century. During the reconstruction of
human experience, is one that is found manifested in most 1590-91, the facade on the town side was, according to
of Vermeer's paintings. In this, the most moving of all his modern aesthetical demands, ornately decorated. The entire
masterpieces, references to emblematic meanings have structure consists of two sections, the main gate building
been eliminated in favor of a far more profound expression and the front gate, with two octagonal hanging towers flank-
30

22) Photograglhfrom the site of Vermeer's "View of Delft".
ing the drawbridge. This front entrance was controlled by Grave made a series of drawings from different angles, pos-
watchmen from a room directly above the drawbridge. The sibly with the planned demolition in mind [Figs. 11, 16]. At
outer wall shows signs of repair done with yellow brick. the demolition, the foundation remained to serve as a road.
Due to necessity, the single drawbridge was replaced with a
The road from the drawbridge through the main gate is larger one in 1737, and the main gate was demolished in
flanked by covered corridors about three meters high, built 1834 to make way for the construction of an avenue.
on arches. Above the main gate watchmen control the traffic The gate was built of common brick alternated, for
through openings in the floor. In order to seal the entrance, aesthetic reasons, with layers of light colored natural stone
a portcullis could be lowered at the town fagade. The main on the fagade which produced a horizontal character and
gate probably was symmetrical in floor plan and roof, but defined space. These layers were sometimes painted to en-
the first trustworthy map of c. 1830 shows an asymmetrical hance their appearance. The number of layers varies greatly
design. This front gate remained intact longer than its in the depictions by other artists, but seventeen would be an
neighbor's, until some time after 1695. In that year, Josua de educated guess. The roof has a cross-shaped summit, and
31

"o -: "_J
r
i~ "~ '
?
__
_ _ _
. .... / 1// . ....
~
11 1:, ".?
,~
J, i
I 11 /
ii /
/ ,
'IiiI '/
/,
I II I /
"I
'I
,I I I" I - -
/
;
:. ,';,/
23) Projection drawing to determine Vermeer's point of (Papegaey), 8 - Armamentarium, 9 - Schiedam Gate, 10 -
view for the "View of Delft" by W.F. Weve. [5 - Kethel Rotterdam Gate (without front gate)]. See note 13.
street, 6 - East India House, 7 - Brewery the Parrot,
32

24) Detail of profile view of Delft from the "Figurative Map of Delft", 1675-78 (2nd impression, 1702), Stedelijk Museum,
"Het Prinsenhof ", Delft.
a hiproof with pairs of dormer windows on the four triangu- stepped gables on four sides. To serve the ferries, a clock
lar sides. On the viewer's side of the gate the sloping roof of and bell tower were installed. From Vermeer's point of view,
the North-South axis continues down the sides of the build- the building seems rectangular but in fact is diamond
ing where the chimneys rise. A pierced contour is created shaped. Attached to the left side of the gate is an irregular
by the pointed wrought-iron and lead ornaments on the roof structure; its precise shape can be studied in Abraham
top and on the chimneys. The S-shaped stone ornaments on Rademaker's drawing [Fig. 12].
the fa(ade and on the base of the chimneys create great
difficulties for artists; many different versions can be seen. The layers of natural stone in the fagade are fewer in
number than those on the Rotterdam Gate. Two pairs of two
The Schiedam Gate and the Rotterdam Gate are, bands are evident with an added horizontal band just above
broadly speaking, twin structures [Fig. 26]. The corridor be- the arched entrance way. Vermeer included the holes in
tween the main building of the Schiedam Gate and the front which the scaffolding rested. These can also be seen in Ger-
had collapsed by the end of the 16th century. In 1590-91 this rit Toorenburgh's careful rendering of the site in his 18th
front gate was demolished, while its foundation remained as century drawing [Fig. 18].
a pier. The main gate was lowered and modernized with
33

25) Daniel Vosmaer (active 1650-1666), "The Explosion at Delft", 1654, present location unknown.
On the left side of the City Wall, Vermeer added a Delft coat-of-arms [Fig. 16]. The wall on the town side was
horizontal (stone?) band in the center. No other artist shows reinforced by a mound of earth; some structures occupy
this band; it does not even appear in Bisschop's more de- this space, including a mill and some sheds.
tailed rendering [Fig. 4]. Towards the right, the wall is at an
angle and leads into the small Kethel Gate, which was built The Harbor is actually a canalized watercourse, referred
after 1591 for easier access to the quay and the bridge. On to as the 'kolk'. Around the 14th century the Rotterdam
depictions by other artists we see two doors covered by a and Schiedam Gates were built as (almost) symmetrical twin
simple sloping roof. On the town side, a decoration in clas- towers on the banks of the Schie [Fig. 26]. They served to
sical style was constructed, crowned by a lion holding the control the traffic over water and land, and to defend the
34

excludingthe copies mentionedin Blankert.We wish to thankthe
staffof the MunicipalArchivesfor theircooperation.Inthe Stedelijk
Museum"Het Prinsenhof"InekeSpaanderhas been particularly
helpfulfor this research.
Extremelyimportantinformationon the historyof Delftand its
culturalheritagecan also be foundin the manyessays containedin
the sequence of the following exhibition catalogues from the
StedelijkMuseum'HetPrinsenhof',Delft.
De Stad Delft, cultuur en maatschappil tot 1572 (part I), Delft,
1978.
De Stad Delft, cultuur en maatschappij van 1572 tot 1667 (part
II)Delft,1980.
De Stad Delft, cultuur en maatschappij van 1667 tot 1813 (part
III),Delft,1982.
26) Anonymous, Detail of "Map of Delft after the fire of

1536", Stedelijk Museum, "Het Prinsenhof", Delft.
city at a point where enemy attack was expected. At the end

of the 16th century the status of Delft as a militarystrong-
hold had declined. By that time, the front gate of the
Schiedam was already in ruin,and in 1590-91, extensive reno-
vations were carried out. The front gate of the Schiedam
Gate was demolished and its main building lowered and
modernized. A triangular rampart was constructed at the
front of the gate, though by 1614 a harbor was needed more
urgently than the rampart,which was dug away. Thus on the
Delft end of the Schie a triangular harbor was created with a
small pier (the Hoofd) extending from it for additional dock-
ing space for the ferry and transportation services.
/
'c6 Z
,i i "
... ?
?~-
RESEARCH
SOURCES ? o
Ecz Deffse, Rotteraamfe,Goutfe of Haeshfe Veerfcluyt
The Rotterdamand SchiedamGates were demolishedin the
years 1834 and 1836, just at the time when photographywas in- /a jn is
(T6t an bter aerv /
vented;however,no photographis knownof these gates. Owingto
their southern,sunlit position,and their picturesquesituationon
enuarwnm-
the water, the gates have been drawn,painted,etched and en- .
graved many times. Most of this materialmay be found in the
MunicipalArchivesand the StedelijkMuseum"Het Prinsenhof".
Thirtyof these renderingsshow the gates frontally,fromaboutthe
position Vermeerchose. For this study views from other angles
have also been traced.Togetherthey total forty-fivedrawingsand 27) Anonymous, "A Delft, Rotterdam, Gouda, or The
watercolors,seventeenprints,eleven city maps and four paintings, Hague Ferry", n.d., Amsterdam Maritime Museum.
35


Vermeer&#39;s View of Delft and His Vision of Reality

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"Vermeer's View of Delft" and His Vision of Reality

Author(s): Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and C. J. Kaldenbach

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