What Happened in 1662

Johannes Vermeer Paints The Art of Painting

Few paintings in the entire history of art seem as perfect as this one. Vermeer's extraordinary technical mastery, the crystal-clear light which... Read more

Johannes Vermeer Paints The Music Lesson

On the far side of a sunlit room with double windows a young woman stands to play on a clavecin. A man in elegant dress watches her and listens... Read more

Johannes Vermeer Paints Woman Holding a Balance

Until recently this painting was best known as The Goldweigher or Girl Weighing Pearls. Microscopic analysis, however, has revealed the pans of the... Read more

Johannes Vermeer Paints Woman in Blue Reading a Letter

The Woman in Blue Reading a Letter is a painting finished around 1663-1664 by the Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer. It is housed in the... Read more

Johannes Vermeer Paints Woman with a Lute

In this work of the early 1660s, a young woman in an ermine-trimmed jacket plays a lute and looks intently out the window. The viola da gamba on... Read more

Johannes Vermeer Paints Woman with a Pearl Necklace

Over an off-white ground, black underpainting indicates shadows in the woman's back. An ocher layer top of the ground may cover the entire... Read more

Rembrandt Paints Sampling Officials of the Drapers' Guild

Rembrandt brilliantly exploits horizontals - a classical rather than a Baroque device - for the unification of the group. Three horizontals run... Read more