When the famous English diarist Samuel Pepys visited Delft, he recorded: "So we all took a schuit [a canal barge] and went after them, but met them by the way (...) to Delft. (...) It is a most sweet town, with bridges and a river in every street." (Transcription by Latham & Matthews, 1970)
The 16th. C and 17thC historic city center of Delft has indeed been surprisingly well preserved. This wonderful state of preservation was not the result of political foresight but was an unplanned result of economic poverty in the 18th.C. and 19th.C. The townspeople lacked the money to tear down the old buildings and replace them by modern ones. So the buildings just kept on standing and slowly crumbled. In the period between 1762 and 1763 the town of Delft did however manage to spend some funds on upkeep of buildings and on public lighting fixtures. Oddly enough this was not done as economy was blossoming but because the dilapidation of Delft caused concern. (source: Van Swigchem, Delftse Studiën, 1967). In 1761 new windows were installed in the following city gates: the Schiedam, Rotterdam as well as in the Watering gate, for the sum of 410 guilders (source: Delft Archives).
Vermeer's parental home 'Mechelen' fronted at Market Square (see: "home" on the map of Delft). It looked out on the tower of the New Church (=nr. 10 on the map). Mechelen was brutally demolished a century ago. At its site is the empty lot next to nr. 52.
We know from a document from ca. 1660 that Johannes Vermeer and his family lived at the home of his mother in law. Present day address of their home: the church at the corner of Oude Langendijk and Jozefstraat. In this home most Vermeer paintings were created and many of their children were born. It now has a historic marker.
Vermeer was buried in the Old Church (nr. 4 on the map).
In the early 1980's the Delft museum 'Het Prinsenhof' organized a series of historical exhibitions and have published a series of (Dutch language) exhibition catalogues on Delft culture and society through the ages. Each cataloge contains a wealth of information. Many authors have contributed.
For the purpose of Vermeer studies the major achievement was the 1996 exhibition and the exhibition catalogue on Delft Masters in Vermeer's time (editions available in English and French, 1996). It showed the incredibe richness and diversity of Delft artistic circles with major names such as De Hooch. Even some little known but particularly fine painters such as Koedijk were unexpected stars of this show.
The author John Michael Montias has spent an important part of his life studying and cross-indexing the Delft Archive, focusing on Delft artists, their patrons and other relationships. He published many articles and books on the fabric of city life, amongst which are: 'Artists and Artisans in Delft: a Socio-economic study of the Seventeenth Century'. His latest book on Delft, 'Vermeer and his Milieu' reads like a detective story.
Wim Weve published a book on one of the most outstanding maps ever produced: The Kaart Figuratief (1675-1678). All map pages are shown in large size. The commentary in Dutch is well designed. Published at Elmer, Rijswijk 1997.
For a study of the topographical artist Abraham Rademaker see my (Dutch language) article in the Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, 1987, pages 165-178.
A detailed topography of artists and patrons' homes in Delft around 1660 will be published in english in 'The Cambridge Companion to Vermeer' (2000 or 2001).
Updated April 22, 2007.
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