Art mimics life, and the art of famous painters like Johannes Vermeer are no different. From intricate background details to startlingly accurate portrayals of scientists and other important innovations of the time art can serve as a valuable insight into times long passed.
When it comes to portraying the effects of scientific discovery, turning to the work of artists is one way to get a new perspective on events that happened long before our times.
Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter in the 17th century. His artwork was relatively unknown during his lifetime and only gained popularity long after his death. He was known for painting portraits and his use of bright colors to show light in his paintings, a technique used by few other paintings during his era.
Only around 35 paintings are attributed to Vermeer in the present day, the most famous of which may be The Girl with the Pearl Earring. Only three of his paintings have known dates, including The Geographer which was painted in 1669.
The Geographer by Johannes Vermeer brings into light how a relatively uneducated individual could put so much detail and scientific knowledge into a painting. The Geographer depicts a man hunched over a bundle of materials, captivated by the knowledge in front of him. In his hand he holds a divider and surrounding him in his study are various cartographic tools used in the profession at the time. His use of light and these tools give an air of revelation to the painting, a perspective which perhaps catapulted the painting to fame.
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The Geographer, The Astronomer, and The Procuress are all seen as being variations of a similar idea. The portrait theme and lighting all lend a feeling of the pursuit of knowledge in addition to depicting the state of the various fields (geography, astronomy) at the time Vermeer lived.
The pose of The Geographer mimics that of drawings created by Rembrandt and Nicolaes Maes, which gives the current viewer some insight into what Vermeer’s artistic license could have been inspired by.
Cartography tools of the 17th century
The Geographer depicts common cartographical instruments in the background including a cross-staff, a tool used to measure the angle and movement of celestial bodies.
There is also a globe, a few compasses, and the manuscripts which The Geographer is studying intently.
Who is the “geographer” in the Vermeer painting?
The knowledge and detail into creating the portrait has been analyzed by art historians, who say The Geographer may be based on the scientist Anthony van Leeuwenhoek and was no mere depiction of an average scientist.
Anthony van Leeuwenhoek was trained as a surveyor and therefore would have been knowledgeable about the equipment needed to create a map.
He was a well-known figure in the community and a contemporary of Johannes Vermeer, a fact which makes the idea of collaboration between the two men entirely possible.
Background imagery in “The Geographer” by Vermeer
On the back wall of the painting Vermeer shows a chart depicting the sea coasts of Europe based on a map created by Willem Janz. A terrestrial globe in the right of the painting sits on a shelf, showing the Asian continent.
The importance of these maps in The Geographer depict the great advances in exploration being done to vast corners of the world, and the increase in global trade that occurred because of newly explore routes from place to place.
The influx of knowledge, goods and services from sources around the world meant that Vermeer was painting during a golden age of science and trade.
The Geographer stands in a room surrounded by the knowledge of the day, ready to discover something of importance himself. The maps, globes, and cartographic instruments scattered about the room are reminiscent of any great mind seeking to understand ideas previously unsought.
The geography of the day was finally breaching a total understanding of how the world looked and how different places, previously isolated, were directly connected to one another.
The opening of trade, the influence of other civilizations in knowledge and technology, and the cultural mingling that was just beginning to occur all influenced both Vermeer’s life as well as his depiction of The Geographer.
Art mimics life, no more so than Johannes Vermeer’s painting of The Geographer.
Although he himself rarely traveled outside of his own town and had possibly only the smallest amount of artistic training, Vermeer influenced the art world as well as gave viewers valuable insight into the science and innovations of his day.
References
Bird, J. (1999). Nova Descriptio… On Jan Vermeer’s The Geographer (1668-69). Parallax, 5(4), 117-122. https://doi.org/10.1080/135346499249506
Welu, J. A. (1975). Vermeer: his cartographic sources. The Art Bulletin, 57(4), 529-547.
