Johannes Vermeer, The Little Street
1657-58Paintings sorted by   Historical period  |   Painter  |  Subject matter  |  Pigments used
Overview
Medium: Oil
Support: Canvas
Size: 54.3 cm × 44 cm
Art period: Baroque
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Painting
Vermeer, ‘A little street’ is an unusual painting in Vermeer’s work and also in its time showing an unspectacular line of ordinary houses. The composition is balanced and the depiction of the surfaces of walls, windows, and bricks very convincing.
The pigment analysis revealed a palette consisting of red ochre, lead-tin yellow, natural ultramarine, azurite, smalt, lead white, and madder lake.
Location in Delft
New research by Frans Grijzenhout, Professor of Art History at the University of Amsterdam, made it possible to pinpoint the exact location of the street depicted Vermeer’s painting. Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was holding an exhibition (20 November – 13 March 2016) on all details of this discovery (1, 2).
Present day location of Vermeer’s Little Street’ image (c) Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
The Google Art Project created a presentation on the painting and its location in Delft (3). The address of the location is Vlamingstraat in Delft at the place where present-day houses number 40 and 42 stand.
References
(1) Rijksmuseum. (2017). Vermeer’s The Little Street discovered, Rijksmuseum
(2) Frans Grijzenhout, Vermeer’s Little Street: a view of the Penspoort in Delft, Exhibition catalog, Rijksmuseum 2015.
(3) Google Cultural Institute. (2017). The Address of Vermeer’s Little Street Discovered
Pigments
Pigment Analysis
This pigment analysis is based on the work of Hermann Kühn of Doerner Institute in Munich (1) and data compiled in reference (2).
1 White wall: lead white mixed with a small amount of red ochre.
2 Light blue sky: lead white and natural ultramarine.
3 White-gray sky: lead white with small amounts of smalt and red ochre.
4 Reddish-brown wall: red ochre, madder lake, and lead white.
5 Green shutters: azurite mixed with a yellow pigment.
6 Green foliage: lead-tin yellow mixed with a blue pigment.
References
(1) Kuhn, H., A Study of the Pigments and the Grounds used by Jan Vermeer, Reports and Studies in the History of Art, National Gallery of Art (Washington, 1968).
(2) Costaras, N., A Study of the Materials and Techniques of Johannes Vermeer, in Gaskell, I. and Jonker, M. ed., Vermeer Studies, in Studies in the History of Art, 55, National Gallery of Art, Washington 1998, pp. 148 – 167
Pigments Used in This Painting
Resources
See the collection of online and offline resources such as books, articles, videos, and websites on Johannes Vermeer in the section ‘Resources on Painters‘
PowerPoint Presentations
Painter in Context: Johannes Vermeer
A richly illustrated presentation on the painting technique and pigments employed by Johannes Vermeer specially crafted for Art Education. (Number of Slides = 24)
- Each presentation starts with the basic resources on the painter such as his biography, main catalogs of his paintings, and a bibliography.
- Next, you find slides describing the painting technique of the artist and the pigments he usually employed in his work.
- The majority of the slides show examples of paintings containing the specific pigments.
Slides showing the basic resources on the paintings of the Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer.Â
The painting technique of Johannes Vermeer is described and illustrated in the next slides.
The majority of the slides show important examples of paintings where Vermeer employed specific pigments. The slides are organized according to the color of the pigments.
Videos
Video: 'Justine about Vermeer's Little Street' by Rijksmuseum
Publications and Websites
Publications
(1) Frans Grijzenhout, Vermeer’s Little Street: a view of the Penspoort in Delft, Exhibition catalog, Rijksmuseum 2015.
(2) Gaskell, I. and Jonker, M., Vermeer Studies, in Studies in the History of Art, 55, National Gallery of Art, Washington 1998.
Websites
Janson, J. The Little Street at Essentialvermeer.com
