Seventeenth century maps by Blaeu and the Kaart Figuratief (an outstanding 17th century map of Delft) plus discussion of the mapmakers of this map

(Above this frame you should see three dropdown boxes; if necessary please move the arrows up or down so that they do show up!)

The map is full of markings of Buildings, Painters and Patrons. In the three dropdown boxes you may choose:
1. Buildings and important sites in Delft
2. Homes of Painters in the Guild of St. Luke in the age of Johannes Vermeer (A-Z)
3. Homes of patrons, officials, dealers, professionals and craftsmen (A-Z)
How was this unique presentarion achieved? Read a presentation of the research method used.

On mapmaking

Seventeenth century maps by Blaeu and the Kaart Figuratief (Figurative Map, a large and outstanding 17th century map of Delft) and their derivatives have been widely used in Vermeer literature up to this point. These maps have the drawback of depicting a lower number of buildings on any given block than there actually were. For our purposes higher accuracy was required.

The historic map known as the Kadastrale Minuut map, shown on the left, depicts the precise geography of Delft as it was in 1832. Up until that period, mapmaking had been a craft. However from the Napoleonic era onwards maps were produced by scientific methods. This map was used as a tool in registering the ownership of lots and real estate. For our purpose of showing Who lived Where (during the age of Vermeer) we prefer this 1832 map to the more obvious Blaeu and the Kaart Figuratief birds eye view maps. The one area which radically changed in the 17th C. was the northeastern corner, devastated by the tremendous gunpowder explosion of 12 October 1654. But little changed in the layout of Delft between about 1650 and 1832 and so this map is quite suitable.

As the lines in the original Kadastrale Minuut map are fairly thin, we have chosen to use a line drawing copy made by mr. Raue. The symbols superimposed on this map show the locations of artists (red dots) and patrons and others (green dots) living in Delft during the seventeenth century. Buildings (yellow dots) are also indicated. Two of Vermeer's stand-points and fields of vision are shown by orange lines. Persons are indicated by their initials ; buildings by numbers.

The team of specialists who worked on the Kaart Figuratief project were Jan Verkolje (function unknown), Johannes Ramasijn, "aannemer" (contractor); Coenraat Decker "plaatsnijder" (engraver); Heerman Witmond (marine painter - function unknown); Andries Hogeboom, "lettersnijder" (letter engraver); Pieter Smith, "plaatdrukker" (plate printer, based in Amsterdam); Joris van Cleef (designer of the section showing the ancient Delft Arms); Master Willem d'Aly (designer of the section showing the Great Fisheries and the ancient Delft Arms). Source: Soutendam, Courantenartikelen, p. 421-432, copy in the Delft Archives.

Sometimes a list of several addresses are given for one person in the caption list. In order to avoid overcrowding the map, only one single dot is presented on the map. Addresses in the caption list with an exact house number refer to present day house numbers.For increased readability the canals have been colored in blue; some street names have been added for reference. Some addresses on Markt are also visible on the 1923 aerial photograph without markings and the 1923 aerial photograph with full markings.

A beautifully printed large map, limited edition, on good quality paper, full colour, 75 cm wide, is now available both in the full English edition and the abridged Dutch edition. For further information please contact the author Kaldenbach. Click here for a description of the research method used.

Note. I thank mr. J.J. Raue, who graciously allowed the use of his re-drawn version of the 1832 map. This drawing first appeared as a separate attachment in Raue's book on the structure of Mediaeval Delft. Raue both studied and worked as engineer at the Delft Polytechnic University.

This page forms part of a large encyclopedic site on Delft. Research by Drs. Kees Kaldenbach (email). A full presentation is on view at johannesvermeer.info.

Launched 16 February 2009; Last update March 1, 2017. More info in the RKD site.

More Delft fine art and pottery has been put online on www.gemeentemusea-delft.nl For online archival information on the Delft archive please click www.archief.delft.nl with one of the world's most advanced digital archival search systems, made available free of cost. Enjoy!