Johannes Vermeer: 10 works

'This is certainly the largest and one of the earliest surviving paintings by Vermeer.'

'Also known as View of Houses in Delft, this is the only known outdoor scene by Vermeer of this type: a quiet street with only a few figures.'

'The painting can be placed at the beginning of a series of quiet interior scenes with few figures, which are characteristic of Vermeer's oeuvre after the end of the 1650s.'

'The tiny dots representing the reflection of light - as in the br eadrolls on the table - are typical of Vermeer's technique.'

'For example, he was the first artist to try soft grey for flesh, and to paint the shadows on the wall light blue.'

'That some aspect of love is the presiding theme can be deduced not only from paintings by Vermeer's contemporaries, such as Metsu, but also by the presence in 'Lady at the Virginal' of the picture of 'Roman Charity' ('Cimon and Pero') by Dirck van Baburen on the wall in the background on the right.'

'This may be one of the three paintings by Vermeer that were described in an Amsterdam auction of 1696 as "A 'face' in an antique dress, uncommonly artful."'

'This canvas was the first of thirteen paintings by Vermeer to enter the United States between 1887 and 1919.'

'The lack of final modeling in the mistress' head and figure and the relatively plain background indicate that this late work by Vermeer was left unfinished.'

'In 1663 and 1670 Vermeer was chairman of the Artists' Guild of St. Luke, but if the painting was intended as programmatic gift to the guild as an allegorical depiction of the arts and trades represented in that organisation, it was never presented to its intended owners: The Art of Painting is mentioned in the inventory of Vermeer's estate.'