Celebrating Johannes Vermeer

Today’s Doodle celebrates Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, a seminal Baroque artist who is widely regarded among the greatest Dutch painters of all time. On this day in 1995, an eponymous exhibition opened at Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art, featuring 21 of his 35 existing works. 

Johannes Vermeer was born in Delft, the Netherlands, at the height of the Dutch Golden Age in 1632. Although little is known about Vermeer’s early life, historians estimate from his early mythological paintings that he first aspired to be a historical painter. 

By the 1650s, Vermeer began to paint subtly lit interiors with intricate symbology—a style distinguished by traditional Dutch motifs that became his hallmark. He captured the commonplace in radiant and exquisite detail, creating masterworks including “The Girl with the Pearl Earring '' (1665) which is currently on display at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, the Netherlands. The artistic techniques Vermeer employed are still up for debate. Some art historians suggest he traced images projected from a camera obscura (a predecessor to the photographic camera), but with no physical evidence to back up such claims, some Vermeer specialists remain unconvinced. 

On the left, the Doodle artwork references “The Allegory of Painting” (1666-1668) and in the middle, “Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid” (1670-1671). In 1979, an X-ray revealed a hidden Cupid in Vermeer’s “Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window” (1657-1659), referenced on the right of the Doodle. Researchers continued to analyze the canvas in 2017, determining that the Cupid was covered by another painter. In 2021, a German initiative completely restored the painting. These efforts are just a few of the many attempts to demystify Vermeer and some of the world’s most treasured pieces of fine art he left behind.

Here’s to a true artistic luminary—Johannes Vermeer!

Visit Google Arts and Culture to explore the timeless works and legacy of Johannes Vermeer.

Early drafts of the Doodle