Delft as an Artistic Milieu; Painters 1600-1690

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In the seventeenth century Dutch Republic major innovations in the art of painting took place in various towns such as Utrecht (a group of painters introducing Caravaggio's chiaroscuro), in Rotterdam (introducing genre painting, as in Willem Pietersz Buytewech's (1591/92-1624) refined interior scenes with Merry Companies; also in Leiden with Jan van Goyen (1596-1656) opening up new avenues in landscape and in Haarlem, where Frans Hals (1581/5-1666) worked and in Amsterdam where Rembrandt (1606-1669) developed new ways in portraiture and history painting.

Up to 1650 the painters working in Delft had largely stayed outside this breeze of major innovations and thus produced works provincial in character. Delft however did become the birthplace of a small but seminal revolution which occurred in 1650 in the field of perspective painting, a specialization which up to that point was still of minor local or national importance. This change concerned the manner in which views of the interiors of local churches were depicted and in the log run this change proved seminal. The painter who managed to break this new ground was Gerard Houckgeest (c. 1600-1661) who may have been born in Den Haag (The Hague), resided in Delft from 1635-1651, entering the Delft Guild of St Luke in 1639. Traditionally architecture painters depicted a (fantasy) church interior by presenting a view along the axis of a church, the orthogonal perspective lines all converging in one single vanishing point which, according to the rules of the craft, had to be situated on the horizon line in the far distance. It was normal for church interior specialists to depict ornate and grand fantasy churches. This well tested praxis in applying central perspective used since the Italian Renaissance, was modified by Gerard Houckgeest who shifted his painterly viewpoint away from the central axis to one from the side aisle, at the same time presenting an an actual part of the church in an oblique angle. As a draughtsman and a painter this meant he first had to work out two diverging vantage lines which both, one to the left and one to the right hand side, should touch the horizon line. This more complicated technique yielded views which looked surprisingly natural and were easy to grasp for the common viewer. This innovation opened up surprising avenues of artistic possibilities and shortly other Delft painters caught on to this new way of presenting viewpoints within perspective. These painters included the Delft born Hendrick Willemsz van Vliet (1611/12-1675) who entered the Guild of St Luke in 1632 and Emanuel de Witte (1617-1692), a perspective painter, born and trained in Alkmaar, entering the Delft Guild 1642, and who became head man, leaving for Amsterdam in 1651. De Witte stood out of this group by stressing atmospheric effects of light, putting less stress on crisp perspectival presentation.

What seems to have been characteristic of this group of Delft painters in the 1650's was a common interest in the effects produced by lenses, which were manufactured by pioneering scientists such as the local Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) who became famous for his microscope lenses and his research correspondence with the Royal Society in London.

Artists analyzed the effects of distortion produced by various optical devices and studied changes in the intensity of light and luminosity of color. Within two years this predeliction for experimentation yielded amazing results in a group of Delft artists. Foremost amongst this group is history, perspective and still life painter Carel Fabritius (1622-1654) who entered the Guild of St. Luke in 1652. His startling View of Delft with a Music Instrument Dealer shows a view towards the back of the New Church, the perspective distorted to incorporate a wide angle of ca. 120 degrees.

Another artist who experimented with perspective was the landscape and townscape painter Daniel Vosmaer (1622-after 1666), who entered in the Guild of St. Luke in 1650. In 1663 he produced a large canvas with a View of Delft from a Fantasy Loggia, which is equally fascinating in that the painter succesfully showed the luminous Delft whereas he floundered in technical points of perspective in depicting the loggia ceiling and its tiled floor. This work gives us an idea of the mastery of the wall and ceiling paintings by Fabritius which were applied in various Delft homes (one in the home of Surgeon Theodorus Vallensis (1612-1673) at Oude Delft between Nieuwstraat and Oude Kerk) but which are now all lost.

Both painters set new standards for a group of gifted artists including the upcoming genre painter Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684) who moved to Delft before 1652 and was to stay in Delft for almost ten years of his life before moving to Amsterdam. In Delft De Hooch produced scores of unparalelled paintings, mainly of refined burghers and their personnel or children in either light filled rooms or courtyards. There must have been just the right critical mass of artistic drive and know how and the right formula of patronage and art market within Delft to make such a tremendous success occur.

In this atmosphere of artistic competition for new ways of depicting life applying optimal illusionistic effects Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675, see entries Vermeer 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) entered the scene. Johannes Vermeer was artistically trained outside of Delft and must have returned to Delft by 1656-1657 just when this new artistic fertility in Delft had matured. Vermeer soon emulated the best local painters, notably De Hooch, and reached an astonishing peak producing interior and exterior scenes with spatially fully convincing perspective views, audacious yet balanced colour hues, and showing off an almost miraculous mastery in the depiction of the textures of all manner of materials, whether it be porcelain, glass, silk, leather, wool or wood. In this he paved the way for followers such as Cornelis de Man (1621-1706) and genre painter Hendrick van der Burch / Burgh (1627-after 1669) who entered the Guild of St. Luke in 1649 and moved to Leiden in 1655.

In analyzing this remarkable artistic heritage of Delft artists we are discussing remains of a much larger artistic body that was once created - which is a sobering realization. This is also apparent in the once architecturally fixed murals and ceiling paintings by Fabritius. The loss of oil paintings due to the ravages of time has been estimated between 50% to as high as 90% of all paintings created in Delft or for that matter elsewhere in The Netherlands, although a less dramatic loss percentage seems to have hit the works of the foremost painter Johannes Vermeer.

Geography and politics

Before describing which patrons played a major role and what the structrure was of the local art marketbe we should first observe Delft geography and politics in a nutshell as it formed the framework of local artictic supply and demand.

Situated in the southwestern corner of the Province of Holland, the Dutch town of Delft and its region grew strong and prosperous during the fifteenth and sixteenth century. Delft became the preferred seat of William the Silent (1533-84), Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the provinces of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht. He chose Delft because it was a southward facing major garrison town, holding troops and armaments belonging to three military powers, being the States General, the Province of Holland and the town of Delft itself. It was advantageously situated close to the seat of government in The Hague, which itself lacked fortifications.

In the 1560's the Dutch subjects confronted their lawful King, Philips II ( 1527-1598) of Spain with two major demands, one for freedom to practice the protestant religion, the other for lowered taxation. The Eighty Years war (1568-1648) was unleashed because of the harsh Spanish response to both of these unresolved issues. The momentum of events brought to the Dutch in the end not only religious freedom but also political independence, first marked in 1581 by the Acte van Verlatinghe (Act of cesession), precursor of the Declaration of Independence (1787) of the first thirteen states founding the United States of America.

A glimpse of military life in Delft is seen in Vermeer's "Officer and the Laughing Girl" (Frick Collection, NYC), while archival documents show numerous contacts between Vermeer and military officers, one of whom, a military engineer, was a family member. Another military scene, although often not regarded as such, is the famous View of Delft showing the major southern fortification walls and gates. As exemplified by the presence of three separate military forces within seventeenth century Delft there was a finely tuned division of three political powers. The provinces were the main political body and formed independent military members of the Republic. Together the seven northern Netherlandish provinces formed a loose confederation, the "Republic of the Seven United Provinces", jointly instituting the national 'umbrella' body of the States-General, whose powers were limited to declaring war, truce, peace and to raising taxes. The towns within the seven provinces were the actual powerhouses of wealth, trade, industry and jurisdiction, all jealously guarding their own prerogatives which had been granted to them by local chieftains in mediaeval period.

In the realm of defence we should not forget to mention a separate, non-military but eqally essential organisation, the Waterschap (Water and Dyke management HQ) regulating all potentially life threatening water flows in the low lands of the Republic.

Delft was a small town. In 1628 the population was just under 30.000, comprising only some 3% of all inhabitants of the province of Holland which counted about a million inhabitants, the total number of inhabitants of the Republic being about 2 million inhabitants. Within the province of Holland, itself by far the most important one in the Republic, Delft was nevertheless pivotal in defence and thus one of the six towns with a major say in the affairs of the province of Holland and thus - by proxy - in the States general.

Rich burghers

The Delft region had grown prosperous during the fifteenth century by an astounding number of beer breweries whose grand production figures declined in the sixteenth century due to expensive ingredients and decreasing sales to Flanders. Increased development of the black woolen cloth industry and foreign trade brought new activities. When in the 1620's and 1630's demand for Chinese porcelain far outstripped supply, the Delft faience industry succeeded in producing a faience which imitated the expensive and sought after original porcelain material. This Delft Blue faience industry took off with a flying colours from the 1630's onwards, providing work for many inhabitants in 30 separate Delft Blue workshops.

Mainstays of economy during the seventeenth centrury were sea fishery, in which the richest catch was herring. This trade is exemplified by two herring ships, each called buis (bus/buss) which are visible to the far right of Vermeers painting The View of Delft. Recently an essay was published in which these ships help date the scene of this painting to the first half of May 1660 or 1661.

Inland fishery provided another rich source of protein, its product being sold daily -except sundays- at the visbanken near Hippolytusbuurt near teh Market Square. The staple foods for the populace came from farming. Farm produce was transported by water to the local Delft markets. Around Delft numerous vegetable fields and animal barns provided vegetables and meats for the weekly markets in town. Vegetable farms in the Republic boasted a high yield per acre as a result of advanced methods for nursery, soil, manure and water management, all geared towards production for the needs of the market. Grains and other staple foods were however imported by Dutch traders from the Baltic region as it was more economic to do so.

The province of Holland once consisted of low lying waterlogged woodlands and peat lands which were reclaimed from the sea by building dykes and windmill driven water pumps and removing the peat. This activity resulted in shrinkage of the once waterlogged land, thus a dramatic lowering and settling of the flatlands by sometimes more than a few meters, necessitating a continuous process of water engineering throughs canals and ditches. In Delft countryside and town were interlinked by these waters as can be seen on detailed maps of the region. The east-west running canals within Delft follow the pattern of east-west running ditches and canals in the surrounding landscape; it indicates how the town of Delft grew organically out of the grid existing in the farmland countryside.

South harbour

The Dutch United East India Company (VOC) was founded in 1602 by local Kamers (Chambers) located in six harbour towns in the provinces of Holland and Zeeland. The Amsterdam Chamber was by far the largest and the Delft Chamber (VOCD) one of the minor ones. Each Chamber was represented by one or more seats in the central board, the 'Heeren XVII' (Governors seventeen). Far reaching powers were given to this central board with regard to setting up trading posts, outfitting forts and making treaties with local rulers in far away countries. Thus the powers of the VOC abroad resembled that of a state. Total number of employees reached ___(check) in 16??___(check).

In the course of time the Delft Chamber built and prepared a total of thirty ships for the voyage eastward in de period 1602-1650. In the following years on average one to two ships per year were sailed out of Delfshaven. Later on this number even increased. Buying stock in the VOC meant a high risk investment as ships could founder, but a succesful arrival of return cargo of spices such as pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and of products such as chinese porcelain meant a royal return of investment.

VOC Delft operated from two locations. The major one, the 'Oost Indisch Huis' (East India House HQ) was in Delft at Oude Delft, near the southern harbour. This was the management and the storage facility for the costly goods. Straight across the water was the East India Warehouse whose hoisting tackle could reach the holds of the ships as that building was right on the water's edge. The other location of VOCD was in Delfshaven, Delfts own harbour on the Maas river. The warehouse building erected there in 1672 served as storage for everything a ship would need when going on a long eastward voyage. Delfshaven also was the location of the major shipbuilding yard and the home base of the herring fleet. Upon return of a great East India ship goods were offloaded near Delfshaven into smaller inland ships which sailed to the Delft location for storage and distribution. note. De VOCD was doing excellent businiss during the first decades.

Because of these growing commercial pressures the south harbour of Delft soon proved to be too small and too shallow so that Town Hall decided to build a new and wider harbour. The entire area naer Schiedam and Rotterdam gates were remodeled in 1614. The land abutment on thich the former barbican of the Schiedam gate (this is the gate building in the middle of the View of Delft) was shortened and turned into a pier. West of Schiedam gate a new smaller gate was built which allowed entry of horse drawn coaches (see full description of Vermeers View of Delft).

With room to expand traffic the interior shipping blosomed in the Delft region.The View of Delft Vermeer from 1660-1661 shows a recent innovation, depicting tow barges, one situated close by to the left, the others far away by the bridge. For public transportation to The Hague or towns as far as Haarlem and Amsterdam a unique system of canals was installed in which tow barges were pulled by a horse which trod on a tow path on one side of the canal. Two major periods of canal building with its necessary secondary systems of bridges, sluices and tow paths took place, one starting at 1632, the other from 1655 onwards. The Schie canal going south from Delft to Delfshaven/Rotterdam was part of the latter drive and received its tow path in 1655 on its western embankment. Although managing the barges was an investment driven for-profit operation the Town Hall took firm control, regulating the time schedule during day light hours, ticket prices, an annual quality control of the barges and other regulations. As in other branches of Delft economic life a commissioner was appointed by the Town Hall, always being a family member of one of the the influential Council of Fourty. For the commissioner in charge the work entailed was minimal, and the yearly income more than appreciable, making it a coveted sinecure, an easy income. Less handsome pay went to the shipping company and its personnel, for each tow boat a skipper and a young boy leading the horse.

For longer distance travel during day and night time and for traffic across the Zuyder sea a different network of sailing ships which also served towns according to a schedule approved by Town Hall.

Town Hall

Local wealth was trumpeted by the brand new Delft Town Hall on Markt square, rebuilt in 1620 by architect Hendrick de Keijzer (1565-1621) in a Dutch renaissance style which sought to impress. This edifice dominates central Markt (Market sqare) by emanating grandeur through its classical ordonnance, whereas its rich ornament exults a festive mood. After a fire in 1618 wrecked the old Town Hall it was rebuilt, maintaining as a core the central mediaeval keep of the old town hall, which stick out like an alien part from the western end. Within the town hall convened the four Burgomasters and the aldermen, which were appointed by the all powerful 'Veertigraad' (council of fourty) alias 'Vroedschap' (council of wisdom), aptly defined as 'the group of fourty burghers among whom burgomasters and aldermen were co-opted'. These council men, all members of factions made up of powerful local families, gained entry to the top through money and politics. For a family to move to the center of power it took decades of shrewd politics which included seeking financial gain through well-paid municipal functions, by dealings with other influential families and by establishing marriage relationships between families. The tension which occurred in the 1570's between the old established Roman Catholic Church and the upcoming protestant groups inspired by Martin Luther (1483-1546) and most of all by John Calvin (1509-1564) put matters of religion in the forefront of political affairs as the catholic faith was associated with the Spanish King and bloody suppression and the protestant faith was associated with a struggle for religious freedom.

After the alteratie - the changeover of power within each town from Roman Catholic to Reformed hands, which occured in Delft in the week between July 26 and August 3, 1572, the Delft Council of Fourty only consisted of persons adhering to the Reformed Church (source for date: H.H. Janus, Hervormd Delft, Amsterdam 1950, p. 30).

The interior of the town hall had to be of a centrain grandeur in order to impress the population and visitors of the elevated position and status of the town. Thus from 1620 onwards the marble floored town hall rooms were adorned with paintings, tapestries, fine furniture, maps and prints. At least one of these paintings was produced by the succesful, though now considered minor, history painter Corstiaen van Couwenbergh (1604-1667). In 1638 he received a commission from the town government in to deliver this painting, for which he was paid 800 guilders, a sum equal to a good annual income for an artisan or craftsman. Van Couwenbergh was a succesful history painter in the manner of the Utrecht painter Gerard van Honthorst (1590-1656), who in turn was influenced by the Italian painter Caravaggio (1573-1610). Van Couwenbergh's large history paintings, often with nude figures, also adorned palaces of the Stadtholder. As a young man Van Couwenbergh worked in 1630's for Stadtholder Prince Frederik Hendrik; and in 1640's Van Couwenbergh became a member of the international team of artists working on the famous cycle of paintings on the theme of the Triumph of Frederik Hendrik in the hall of Huis ten Bosch, The Hague. Van Couwenbergh's wealth and social position was such that he could marry Burgomaster's daughter Elisabeth van der Dussen in 1630. The newlyweds moved into an important mansion on the east side of Oude Delft canal just south of Peperstraat, worth 12,700 guilders, which even in elevated Delft circles was a high price in those days.

The Oude Delft canal, home of most family members of the Council of Fourty, runs all the way from north-south through Delft. Its eastern parallel canal is also a continuous body of water but it goes by a series of names: starting in the south it is called Geer, Koornmarkt, Wijnhaven, Hippolytisbuurt and finally Voorstraat. Both canals, constitute the backbone of the wealthy district, especially the Oude Delft between the Old Church and the southern harbour was the most sought after real estate location, boasting the major and festive building of the local waterschap, the Hoogheemraad van Delfland. Yet in the inner courtyards towards the fortifications cheap housing was available.

In 1643-1645 the town of Delft paid Van Couwenbergh another sum of 174 guilders for preparing design cartoons for tapestries which were to be executed in a famous Delft tapestry workshop. In 1648 he sold his house at Oude Delft (including some of the furnishings and paintings as the price would indicate) for 30.000 guilders. Corstiaen had by then already moved away from Delft to The Hague, leaving as a legacy not only his fine works of art but also a large unsettled bakery bill and an even larger bill from the wine merchant.

The Guild; training period

Van Couwenbergh had entered as a Master in the Guild of St. Luke in 1627. By law membership of the Guild of one's particular profession was a prerequisite, allowing a master to work and teach and trade independently, which in the case of a painter meant to paint and sell paintings at will. Dutch municipal guild ordonnances were the legal backbone of this closed shop Guild system. For entry into the Guild of St Luke a formal six year training in the workshop of a registered Master of the Guild was a prerequisite. An entrance fee of 12 guilders was charged to outsiders and 6 guilders for sons of local Masters, and even 3 guilders if they were trained by their own father. Such was the enforced regulation. But what to think of the few names who cannot be pinpointed in the Guild lists? Might they have had another prime trade?

Education of a new generation of painters was of prime interest to the Guild. For parents of a twelve or thirteen year old boy with an aptitude for drawing it was a very costly undertaking to decide to pay for the full six years of apprenticeship. During the lengthy painter's training hardly any income was generated - as opposed to most other kinds of trades during which the apprentice would immediately do practical labour, producing goods, earning an income right away. But a painter's education was a six years investment yielding a result which was far from certain because of its artistic nature. A natural aptitude of the trainee shown at the age of twelve or thirteen was no guarantee for becoming a skilled and artistic craftsman.

The typical painter could expect to earn an income of between 1000 and 2500 a year. This compares very favourably to the income of a master in many other trades, earning about 2 guilders a day in Holland. For those masters about 250-280 working days per annum would yield 500 to 600 guilders. About 80 percent of households did not exceed an income of 600 guilders. Thus this risky path to a possible extremely high payed artistic glory was predominantly chosen by fathers who were themselves painter or trader in paintings (as in the case of the father of Johannes Vermeer). Some Delft goldsmiths or silversmiths also tried their son's long term luck (see Couwenbergh, Mierevelt, Vosmaer) but only a few sons of brewers (Van der Hoef, Van der Vin) risked this line of work.

We find some exceptional instances in Delft where artisans managed to pay for the training of their sons sons. A sail maker managed the tuition cost for two sons, fruit still-life painter Gillis de Bergh (before 1606-after 1669) who entered the Guild of St. Luke in 1624 and his brother, history painter Matheus de Berg (c.1615 -1687) who entered the Guild 1638, becoming head man in 1649. His succesful upward social mobility resulted in his ability to put his own son through law school.

Sons of the upper class burghers on the other hand were normally destined to also become notaries, doctors and lawyers. They did not aspire to be trained for the manual labour of an artist, although in exceptional cases wealthy burghers took up the art of painting themselves. Three examples of are jonkheer (esquire) Arent van Reijnoij who lived at north side of Nieuwe Langendijk in a house with five hearths. He entered St Lukes Guild in 1613 or before as a wealthy amateur of art, owning a fine collection. Willem van Roscam (?-1643), embroiderer and Pieter Adraen den Dorst entered guild of St Luke in 1613 or right after. One would also expect the latter two to have owned an appreciable private collection of prints and drawings. In their case there was also no clear distinction between who was an artist and who was a patron.

Apprenticeship of boys was arranged not by the Guild but by a private contract between master and trainee or the parents of the trainee; archival research has yielded four of these contracts. One, dating from 1620 set down the duties and rights of master painter Harmen Arentsz van Bolgersteyn (1585-1641) and his apprentice Reymbrandt Verboom, who wished to finish the last two years of his required six years of training. Master Bolgersteyn had himself entered the Delft Guild of St Luke between 1613-1617. For an annual sum of 50 guilders he agreed to train young Verboom and provide all painting materials. For this price the boy did however not have lodging, but he received all of the costly painting materials for free and he also had the right to sell the paintings which he made during his training period.

Another known training contract is that of church interior perspective painter Emanuel de Witte (1617-1692). Emanuel de Witte who trained and joined the Guild in Alkmaar studied in Evert van Aelst's (1602-1657) workshop along with the fellow trainees Willem van Aelst (1626-1683) and Adam Pick (c. 1621-before 1666). Early in 1642 De Witte signed a contract with his landlord, the brewery foreman Rocus Rocusz van der Vin (?-1655), renting an upstairs room in Choorstraat which was leased to him rent free in lieu of teaching the landlords' fifteen year old son. This unorthodox arrangement was probably set up as De Witte was officially not entitled to teach at that time as he was not yet member of the Guild of St Luke. Later in that same year 1642 De Witte did however manage to enter the Delft Guild, staying on for another nine years before he moved on to Amsterdam in 1651.

The Guild of St Luke of Delft embraced an ever shifting membership because of new enrollments, of deaths and because of the freedom of painters to establish themselves at will in other towns. After 1580 there was an appreciable new influx of artists who came from Flanders (Van Bassen, Van der Bundel, Van Geel), most of them seeking to profess their protestant faith. At any singe year from the 1620's to 1650's there were about fifty painters in Delft constituting a relatively a small body compared to Dutch towns of similar size. These fifty painters were not all fine oil paint artists as a number of them were kladschilders (oil painters in the rough, house painters) and a small number was water colourist. Within the same Guild there were other departments which require only mentioning here in passing, and whose membership excluded that of the fifty or so painters. These were print colorists, painting and print sellers, booksellers, needlepoint workers, sculptors, faience painters, tapestry workers and finally and perhaps rather bizarre, a separate group of chair painters.

The Guild was regulated by municipal ordonnance decreed by the burgomaster and aldermen. The day to day running of the Guild was up to the Head men, the leadership of the Guild, whose members were rotating year by year, annually elected by the members. The acting head men sent the proposal of names of the upcoming and leaving head men slated for the next year to the Burgomasters and Aldermen who normally agreed to the submission. Amongst the acting head men are a few outstanding names, three of whom will be mentioned here.

Cornelis de Man (1621-1706), genre and landscape painter who entered Guild of St. Luke in 1642, influenced by De Hooch. His exemplary career shows that he moved in foremost circles in Delft. De Man had sojourned in Italy, returned to Delft in 1654-55, He became head man of the Guild in 1657 when he was 36 years old and again took up that post in 1673, 1681 and 1687. He became Regent of the Orphanage and painted a group portrait of the Surgeons' Guild and he moved to The Hague in 1706.

Leonaert Bramer (1596-1674). History painter, also landscape and portrait painter. Prolific draughtsman. Italian sojourn 1614-before 1628, mastering the fresco technique. In Guild of St. Luke in 1629, head man in 1661, 1663, 1665. Sergeant in the Civic Guard; contracted by the Town government for upkeep of paintings in the Doelen (Civic Guards) building. Lived in the Wapen van Dantzig (Dantzig Arms) on 48 Koornmarkt. He probably rented it before 1638 and bought it in 1643 for 2,500 guilders. In 1653 he was contracted to paint a fresco in a corridor between his house and that of his neighbor Bronchorst. In 1648 he bought a house at north side of Pieterstraat for 910 guilders; lived there in 1658 according to one source, sold two adjacent houses at north side of Pieterstraat in 1668 for 400 guilders. He lived at Koornmarkt in 1670 and died there.

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675, see entries 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) became head man at the exceptional early age of 30 in 1662, and was called up again in 1670. The reason for this unprecedented step may have been either the personal qualities of Vermeer but may also have also been induced by the lack of proper candidates of a more suitable age. Within the Guild the recent loss of a number of prominent painters may have caused a local unbalance. An appreciable loss occurred on 12 October 1654 when the gunpowder explosion mortally wounded the the multi-talented history, perspective and still life painter, young Carel Fabritius (1622-1654). Trained in Rembrandt's studio in Amsterdam, he joined the Guild of St. Luke in 1652. Initially lived (with his father in law?) at Oude Delft; later independently at Doelenstraat near the gunpowder arsenal, causing the artist's death. In 1675 several of Fabritius's paintings were in Vermeer's inventory.

In Delft we find Vermeer paintings in the private art collections of Pieter Claesz van Ruijven, Hendrick Ariaensz. van Buyten, Johannes de Renialme, Cornelis van Assendelft, Cornelis de Helt and Gerard van Berckel.

Music

The many musical instruments in Vermeers refined interiors makes one wonder at the role of music life of Delft burghers, painters and artisans. Delft itself was not a music town par exellence. It lacked not only a playhouse theater, but also a music hall. Music and singing songs from printed booklets was however an affair which often took place in homes and during feasts. Public performances were part of town life to some degree. During festive occasions pipers and fiddlers played in the open. One of them was professional musician Claes Corstiaensz, the second husband of Vermeer's paternal grandmother Cornelia (alias Neeltge Goris, who died 1627). After Vermeer's grandfather Jan Reyersz. died in 1597 his widow Neeltge married Claes Corstiaensz. After his death Vermeers father and later Vermeer himself must have inherited these instruments. Thus music and musical instruments became a recurrent theme in Vermeer paintings. Virginals and harpsichords, especially those Antwerp built Ruckers instruments shown in Vermeer paintings were extremely expensive. There were probably not more than a few of these in Delft. Author Montias* thinks Vermeer's mother in law Catherina Bolnes had one ; others were owned by Cornelis Graswinckel (1582-1664) and Dirk Jansz. Scholl (1641-1727).

Organ music was performed within churches, resurfacing after a discussion within the Reformed church between adherents and hardliners who thought organ music was irredeemably popish in nature. From 1662 onwards the newly installed carillon of the New Church was played either automatically on a hourly basis, run by a mechanically advanced pin and drum system - or manually during certain hours of the day and during festive occasions. A famous organ player was Dirk Jansz. Scholl (1641-1727) who proved to be pivotal in the town's music life.

Wealthy Patrons of the arts

Within the fabric of town one would expect to find the patrons of the arts to live on the Oude Delft canal and its eastern parallel canal, with another central node of wealth in and around Markt square.

Patrons generally did not limit themselves to collecting paintings and drawings but amassed sought after objects from all over the world. These collections, known with the German term Kunst und Wunderkammer could contain coin, cameo and small sculpture collections, paintings and drawings and animalia and naturalia, the latter showing a wide, almost encyclopedic interest in the outer world whose coast lines were discovered and charted in that time.

By far the most prestigeous early Delft art collection is that of the rich beer brewer Melchior Wyntgis (15??-1618 or later). He entered Delft 1592, marrying a local inhabitant. The couple lived In den Oyevaer (in the Stork) at east side of Voorstraat, owning an outstanding collection of paintings which was visited by the art connoisseur Aernout Van Buchell in 1598. Wyntgis sold his Delft brewery for 12.500 guilders in 1601 and moved out of Delft and later on to Brussels. In an 1618 Brussels inventory listed paintings by major masters: Jan van Eijk, Hieronymus Bosch and Jan van Scorel. We do not know whether these outstanding paintings were already in his collection during his Delft years.

Jan van der Meer (1616-1683). Apothecary, Head man of his Guild in the 1650's. Lived at Koornmarkt after 1648. As an avid collector he had ties with East and West India Company (VOC and WIC) leaders. His collection was visited in 1663 by Sir Philip Skippon, author of his Account of a Journey... There he saw a 'museum or a cabinet of varieties' from nature and antiquity. He also had a garden of rare plants.

Another avid collector of the generation of Vermeer was Hendrik d'Acquet (1632-1706). Surgeon and Mayor in Delft. He lived at the west side of Voorstraat and at 202, Oude Delft. He was so proud of his collection of rarities that he had an inventory catalogue printed "Insertia et Animalia...". It describes the collection which he assembled between 1651 and 1703.

Vermeers next door neighbour at Oude Langendijk at the corner house, west of Molenpoort (now Jozefstraat) was Machteld van Best (before 1614-1687). In 1632 she married silk merchant Willen van Erven, active 1653-1677. She inherited an important Haarlem collection of paintings which included a Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem.

Not only wealthy burghers but also succesful businessmen collected. Dirck Adriaensz van Brantwijck ( ?-1646), saw mill owner, contractor, carpenter who may have lived at west side of Oude Delft. His collection comprised of of paintings, drawings, prints, rarities and art books. Art books are books with blank pages for storage of loose prints and drawings. This entire collection was bequeathed to his brother in law Cornelis Joosten van 't Woud in 1646.

Eva Briels (before 1609-1659). In 1631 she married the lawyer Nicolaas Bogaert who died first, making her a wealthy widow. Her own inventory which included some 35 paintings was valued in 1658. Prize posessions were a 'Judgement' by Abraham J. Bloemaert worth 250 or 350 guilders, and a 'Battle' by Palamedes worth 200 guilders.

A friend of Johannes Vermeer and his wife Catharina Bolnes was notary public and art connoisseur Willem Reyersz de Langue (1599-1656). His portrait is shown as Civic Guard Sergeant in a full figure double portrait by Jacob W. Delff II. He lived at north side of Markt possibly at number 38 or 40. Some of the sketches in the Bramer album (1642-1654) were made from paintings in his collection.

A major Amsterdam art dealer was of Johannes de Renialme (c.1600-1657) whose entry in the Guild of St Luke in 1644 allowed him to open a Delft branch of his trade. In 1632 his branch was in De Clock mette Croon (The Crowned Clock) on the west side of Dircklangesteeg. A later and more prominent house was on Oude Delft. Amongst his inventory was the (now lost) Vermeer painting Een graft besoekende (Three Mary's visiting Christ's Grave), valued at 20 guilders.

The immediate Vermeer patrons were Pieter Claesz van Ruijven (1624-1674) and his wife Maria de Knuijt (16??-1681); they had married in 1653. They were the major Vermeer patrons, buying his paintings at perhaps the rate of one a year. In 1657 Pieter and Maria loaned 200 gulden to Johannes Vermeer, presumably as prepayment for paintings. Vermeer was also mentioned in their legacy as the only artist in or outside Delft - a token of personal affection. The Van Ruyvens were independently wealthy, initially owning two houses at Voorstraat canal, the one on the west side modest in size, the other at the east side, former brewery De Os (The Ox) larger. In 1660 he also bought brewery De Gouden Aecker (The Golden Acorn) on Voorstraat number 39, for 2100 guilders. The couple probably settled in De Gouden Adelaar (The Golden Eagle), worth 10.500 guilders. Is this the house on the east side of Oude Delft near Boterbrug? In 1664 and 1665 they still lived at the east side of Oude Delft. During the last months of his life Van Ruijven lived in The Hague. In 1680 their daughter Magdalena married printer and bookseller Jacob Abrahamsz. Dissius (16??-1695) who became the heir to her fortune when Magdalena died in 1682. He became the heir to the Van Ruijven estate but strangely enough he had to share this estate with his father, Abraham Dissius who died in 1694. After Jacob Dissius himself died in 1695 the utterly amazing sale of 21 of the finest Vermeer paintings took place in Amsterdam on 16 May 1696. The Dissius family lived in 'Het vergulde ABC' (Gilded ABC) at 32, Markt which was bought by Abraham Dissius in 1651.

Not an immediate patron but a keen amateur of the art of Vermeer anyway was Hendrick Ariaensz. van Buyten (1632-1701), master baker and head man of the Bakers' Guild in 1668. Van Buyten became rich throuch inheritances. Diplomat and connoisseur Balthasar de Monconys visited this 'boulanger' in 1663 to see a Vermeer painting, featuring one lady, estimated at 600 livres (here: guilders). Van Buyten had delivered two to three years worth of bread to the Vermeer family to the total sums of 617 and 109 guilders. In 1676 he agreed with the impoverished widow Catherina Vermeer to settle this bill with the exchange of two Vermeer paintings. His final collection of three Vermeers included the large Lady and Maidservant (now in Frick Collection) and several other paintings by Delft masters.

Nicolaes van Assendelft (after 1627-1662). His parents who belonged to the marginal group of the Remonstrant religion, married in 1628. Nicolaes finally became a "Chirurgijn" (Surgeon) and he published on Harvey's new theory of blood circulation. (Compare Van Leeuwenhoek's theory on the same subject!) Nicolaes lived on Korenmarkt at the time of his early death. He owned the Vermeer painting "Juffer spelend op Clavecimbel" (Young Lady at the Clavichord/Virginal) , probably one of the two now in London, National Gallery.

One of the richest art collector, who visited Vermeer's atelier twice in 1669 - in order to meet Vermeer and see his works was Pieter Teding van Berkhout (1643-1713), member of a foremost family, owning a major fine art collection. In his diary he wrote that the second time around he saw several paintings with a curious and extraordinary perspective. Teding became member of Delft Council of Fourty from 1675 onwards. In 1674 he lived at Dry Cooningen (Three Magi), Oude Delft number 123. During his lifetime his wealth in real estate and bonds holdings grew from 90,000 to 475,000 guilders making him exceptionally wealthy. The family also owned an estate in the countryside just outside Delft.

Our present list of local collectors of note ends with Judith Willems van Vliet (? -1650) who had married Jan Jansz Goere in 1632. She lived in De Blauwe Clock (The Blue Clock) at at west side of Hippolytusbuurt. In her 1650 inventory were 30 paintings amongst which a Rembrandt worth 60 guilders and a Houckgeest worth 36 guilders.

Female painters were not enrolled in the Guild but they did play a role in producing paintings in the lower price range - of up to a few guilders a piece. They were also employed to peddle these or other paintings in the street. Known female painters in Delft are Cornelia de Rijck, Maria van Oosterwyck and her assistant Geertje Pieters. Then we find Maria van Pruyssen. Of this group Maria van Oosterwyck has the off position of a highly paid 'art amateur' who was really painting on a professional level.

Appendix

Delft Art world as subdivided by the late John Michael Montias

Montias* identifies 4 broad groups:

A) Patrons

Wealthy burghers, all living in houses costing 2000 guilders or more, paying 10 - 25 guilders in annual tax on their home and bequeathing more than 50 guilders to the Camer van Charitate. Equal in status to succesful notaries, surgeons, master siversmiths, succesful merchants.

B) Patrons, Dealers etc.

1) Succesful painters A. Palamedesz, L. Bramer, M. Van Mierevelt, all members of the Guild of St Luke.

2) Wealthy amateurs painter Arent van Reijnoij, Willem van Roscam, embroiderer ; Pieter Adraen den Dorst, also all members of the Guild of St Luke.

3) art dealers Abraham de Cooge ; Reynier Jansz Vos/ van der Minne/ Vermeer, father of Johannes Vermeer.

4) Owners of printing presses: Andries Cloeting, Felix van Sambich de Jonge, Jan Pietersz Walpoth.

5) Owners of Delftware potteries Hendrick Marcellis van Gogh; Lambert Ghysbrechtsz Kruyck; Aelbracht Keyser.

B) Less succesful artists, living in houses costing 800-1500 guilders

C) Artists and artisans not registered in the Guild.

D) Apprentices and Journeymen.

(*Listed in Montias 1977, p. 104, Montias 1981, p. 193, Montias AA 1982, p. 134.)

Annual income of painters see Montias 'Estimates...' in Leidschrift 6 (1980) nr 3, p. 60.

Liedtke 2000, p. 122 states that Delft dealers routinely sold paintings on behalf of Delft artists in other cities - one could think of Renialme.

See Fabritius, nr 75; Vermeer nr 78 and De Hooch nr 80. Illustration from the 'Meesterboek' in Ernst Günter Grime, Jan Vermeer van Delft, DuMont Schauberg, Köln, 1974. p. 8.

Literature: The diary written in 1624 by David Beck mentions a visit to de Langue. See David Beck, Spiegel van mijn leven, een Haags dagboek uit 1624. Ingeleid en van aantekeningen voorzien door Sv. E. veldhuijzen, Hilversum 1993. Mentioned in Jeroen Blaak, Geletterde Levens, Hilversum, 2004.

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Launched 16 February 2001; last update February 18, 2009.