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The Young Vermeer

Published on 11 May 2010

by Phil Miller © The Herald

Famous for his scenes of domestic interiors and masterpieces such as Girl With A Pearl Earring, Vermeer, who lived from 1632 to 1675, is now regarded as one of the finest artists of any era.

The artist’s mysterious life has inspired many books and even a film, but he left a legacy of only about 30 paintings, and exhibitions of his work are rare.

However, in September the one Vermeer painting owned by the National Galleries of Scotland – Christ In The House of Martha And Mary – will be joined by a collection of works from the Netherlands and Germany.

Vermeer’s most famous works show scenes of daily domestic life such as maids pouring milk and women having music lessons or reading and writing letters.

His Girl With A Pearl Earring inspired a best-selling novel by Tracy Chevalier and a critically acclaimed film that starred Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson.

However, the exhibition in Edinburgh will focus on his early work, with the religious-themed Scottish Vermeer hung alongside Diana And Her Companions, from the Mauritshuis in The Hague, and The Procuress from the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen gallery in Dresden.

The works, which will be on display at the National Gallery building on The Mound, are all strikingly different. Diana And Her Companions takes inspiration from classical mythology, while The Procuress depicts a scene in a brothel.

All three works date from the very earliest years of the artist’s life, in the early to mid-1650s, when the painter’s talent was beginning to blossom.

Scotland’s Christ In The House Of Martha And Mary is so different from much of Vermeer’s work that its exceptional size and subject matter are often remarked on by experts, but it has long been the consensus that it is indeed a Vermeer, and it has his distinctive signature.

The Young Vermeer exhibition, for which all three paintings have recently been restored, will run from December 10 of this year until March 2011.

Dr Tico Seifert, senior curator for Early Netherlandish, Dutch and Flemish Art at the National Gallery of Scotland, said the exhibition provided a rare opportunity to see Vermeers together in Scotland. He said: “We are not aware that a Vermeer exhibition has ever been held in Scotland before, and given how few Vermeers there are, it is very unlikely there will be one for many years to come.

“I think the show will come as a surprise to the public because the early works, which look different from his later work, are not often seen. But you can see very clearly that he was a special talent.”