Canvas and panels for painting

Six panels and ten canvases. "6 paneelen; tien schilderdoucken" On the upstairs front room studio. (Op de boven voorkamer). Room L.

Canvases were either bought from an art supplier, completely prepared and stretched, or they were prepared by the painter himself. In this case they must be ones bought, in standard sizes.

Two ways of stretching were common: the first is to stretch it like an animal skin, as can be seen on the right in the engraving by Vincent van der Vinne. In the later phase of framing, the canvas was nailed down over the edges of a rectangular wooden canvas stretcher.

Nearly all paintings by Vermeer which are known to us have been painted with oils on canvas. Only a few panels are known, one of which is considered as "circle of Vermeer".

Note : This object was part of the Vermeer-inventory as listed by the clerk working for Delft notary public J. van Veen. He made this list on February 29, 1676, in the Thins/Vermeer home located on Oude Langendijk on the corner of Molenpoort. The painter Johannes Vermeer had died there at the end of December 1675. His widow Catherina and their eleven children still lived there with her mother Maria Thins.

The transcription of the 1676 inventory, now in the Delft archives, is based upon its first full publication by A.J.J.M. van Peer, "Drie collecties...", Oud Holland, 1957, pp. 98-103. My additions and explanations are added in square brackets [__]. Dutch terms have been checked against the world's largest language dictionary, the Dictionary of the Dutch Language (Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal , or WNT), which was begun by De Vries en Te Winkel in 1882. In 2001 many textile terms have been kindly explained by art historian Marieke te Winkel.

Illustration taken from the Wadum article in the 1995/1996 Vermeer catalogue, National Gallery, Washington DC / Mauritshuis The Hague.

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

Launched December, 2002; Last update March 2, 2017.

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