Exploring the convergence of art and science in the map renderings of one of the world’s most beloved artists
Marcel Proust declared View of Delft by Johannes Vermeer (1632–75) “the most beautiful painting in the world.” Indeed, viewers have been captivated by Vermeer's extraordinary art since the 19th-century rediscovery of the Dutch painter. Maps, an intricate fusion of art and science, held an important and multifaceted place in the Netherlands in the 17th century and were of particular interest to Vermeer. Of the approximately 34 paintings attributed to the Delft-based artist, wall maps and other cartographic objects are depicted in nine of them, including the renowned Officer and Laughing Girl and his masterpiece, The Art of Painting. With stunning reproductions and incisive text, this book is the most comprehensive study of the artist's depiction of wall maps to date. Drawing on rare surviving examples of the maps and other primary sources, author Rozemarijn Landsman examines this intriguing aspect of Vermeer’s work, greatly enriching and expanding our understanding of the art and life of the “Sphinx of Delft.”
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Widewalls
Kame Hame
Questions arose concerning the purpose of these maps. Were they just products of the time's fashion, or do they give a deeper meaning to Vermeer's masterful work? These are just a few inquiries Landsman examines in Vermeer's Maps through incisive text and exceptional reproductions.
Vintage Cafe
Nenad Georgievski
Vermeer’s Maps is a dauntingly ambitious, obsessively researched labor of love. It is a beautiful book, not only in its dazzling array of maps and paintings but also in the elegance of its writing and the deftness of its arguments, which at moments seem overwhelming with its factography and data.
The Portolan
Dr. Matt Mingus
Vermeer’s Maps is one of the most beautiful schol - arly publications I have come across in recent years...One can only wish that all books about Vermeer were as unstintingly produced, for his work can only be truly appreciated and understood by looking closely at every detail.
The Portolan
Dr. Matt Mingus
Vermeer’s Maps is one of the most beautiful schol - arly publications I have come across in recent years...One can only wish that all books about Vermeer were as unstintingly produced, for his work can only be truly appreciated and understood by looking closely at every detail.
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Painted ca. 1662, Woman with a Water Pitcher is reproduced from Vermeer’s Maps, the Frick Collection’s fascinating new exploration of map renderings in the paintings of the quintessential seventeenth-century Dutch master whose work is currently on view at the Rijksmuseum. Behind the figure in the painting is a print of the Map of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands by cartographer and engraver Jodocus Hondius I. This map "was never meant to represent the most detailed or up-to-date topography of the area,” art historian Rozemarijn Landsman writes. "Instead, it is about the idea, the history, or the possibility of a country. Its content, features, and purpose were determined by the context of an ongoing war, immigration, and the formation of the Dutch Republic. Its function is perhaps best understood as symbolic or propagandist rather than practical.” continue to blog
Published by DelMonico Books/Frick Collection. By Rozemarijn Landsman.
Exploring the convergence of art and science in the map renderings of one of the world’s most beloved artists
Marcel Proust declared View of Delft by Johannes Vermeer (1632–75) “the most beautiful painting in the world.” Indeed, viewers have been captivated by Vermeer's extraordinary art since the 19th-century rediscovery of the Dutch painter. Maps, an intricate fusion of art and science, held an important and multifaceted place in the Netherlands in the 17th century and were of particular interest to Vermeer. Of the approximately 34 paintings attributed to the Delft-based artist, wall maps and other cartographic objects are depicted in nine of them, including the renowned Officer and Laughing Girl and his masterpiece, The Art of Painting. With stunning reproductions and incisive text, this book is the most comprehensive study of the artist's depiction of wall maps to date. Drawing on rare surviving examples of the maps and other primary sources, author Rozemarijn Landsman examines this intriguing aspect of Vermeer’s work, greatly enriching and expanding our understanding of the art and life of the “Sphinx of Delft.”
