An iron armor with a helmet; a pike ('Een yser harnis met de stormhoet; een pieck'), In the great Hall ("groote zael") Room I. These items and a "Vermeer" on a Civic Guard document strongly indicate that Vermeer was a member of the Delft Civic Guard or 'schutterij'.
Cuirass consisting of collar, chest and breast plate, and a helmet. Nederlandish, c. 1600-1700. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam inventory number NG-KOG-1134, F5373-5 (neg. 1996), F5373-8 (neg. 1996).
The subject of civic guards was discussed in a marvellous exhibition in the Frans Hals museum, Haarlem. See the exhibition catalogue Schutterij, Kracht en Zenuwen van de stad.
Een pike or lance, Rijksmuseum inventory number NM 11787, Photo F 1839-8. Size unknown.
For
a discussion on Delft as a military town see the author's discussion
of the View of Delft.
The civic guard was the subject of a marvellous exhibition in the Frans Hals museum, Haarlem: Schutterij, Kracht en Zenuwen van de stad.
To the right a drawing, possibly by Job Berckheyde, of a soldier. Coll. C. Hofstede de Groot, now in Groninger museum, Groningen.
Note: Photo Copyright Rijksmuseum Foundation. The Rijksmuseum has graciously assisted in this project Digital Home of Johannes Vermeer. The author was given permission to make a selection in the vast photo archive and this material has been made available by the Rijksmuseum.
These objects were 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.
Literature: Donald Haks, The household of Johannes Vermeer' in Dutch society in the age of Vermeer, Donald Haks and Marie Christine van der Sman (ed.) , The Hague Historical Museum and Waanders, Zwolle, p. 103.
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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