Chiaroscuro, the effects of light and shadow in Master Vermeer's Delft



You don't have to be in Delft long to see what inspired the the famed Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. Walk where Vermeer walked and he city comes to life right before your eyes. Fortunately Delft today looks very much as it did in Vermeer's day. The diffused afternoon light gives it almost a serene, timeless quality that would have delighted this master of chiaroscuro and realism too.



The reproduction of the Vermeer’s masterpiece "Girl with a Pearl Earring" next to the New Church or "Nieuwe Kerk" (also nicknamed “the Dutch Mona Lisa”), is one of only 36 known/surviving paintings by Vermeer.  Painted in 1665 and originally titled Girl with a Turban, 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' only changed its name in the second half of the twentieth century. 



















Tracy Chevalier's novel 'Girl With a Pearl Earring - A Servant's Life, a Master's Obsession, a Matter of Honour- became a movie (made by Mr. Webber) that shows the imagined tale of Griet, a maid who became the muse of Johannes Vermeer. Ther film lacks drama, it kind of moves forward in slow motion, but recreates the light and atmosphere of Vermeer in such a way that you almost sense the same delicate sensuality as Vermeer would have felt painting the girl.


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Location: Western Europe, The Netherlands, Delft

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Globe-trotting travel and other infatuations started its existence as blog of a frequent travelling hedonist wanting to share her experiences and infatuations. The blog is my way to savour the experience of travel in the written word as well as to in pictorial highlights.
As a matter of fact, one of the great things about travel is that there are many ways to do it. I like to share my experiences with a Henry Miller's quote in mind: "one’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”