Johannes Vermeer’s View of Delft (ca. 1660-61): The Prose and Poetry of View Painting
Johannes Vermeer invented no new subjects; instead, he transformed the familiar subjects he inherited by using techniques that suffused them with a kind of visual magic. The View of Delft, his city view in the collection of the Mauritshuis, The Hague, is based on a long tradition of topographical paintings, none of which has the same unforgettable effect. Walsh investigates what sets this painting apart.