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Vermeer and the Delft School
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Description
Two men, probably army officers, play at making music while their hostess raises her glass of wine. A canvas depicting the Education of the Virgin is propped upon the mantelpiece and alludes to the young woman, who settled on another lifestyle some time ago.
This much admired picture has been considered a breakthrough for De Hooch and Vermeer because of its use of perspective to describe naturalistic space. What the floor tiles, fancy fireplace, and scale of the room actually reveal is De Hooch's attempt to elevate the tone of his "merry companies" (compare the other works by the artist on this wall) by borrowing design ideas from Van Bassen and other painters of palatial architecture in Delft and The Hague. Applying this patrician veneer cost De Hooch more trouble—to judge from this composition's several corrections—than did the consistent flow of light across the space.
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Description