What is Johannes Vermeer?
[[File:1665 Girl with a Pearl Earring.jpg|thumb|250px|''[[Girl with a Pearl Earring]]'', Vermeer's most famous painting]] '''Johannes Vermeer''' or '''Jan Vermeer''' ([[baptism|baptised]] 31 October 1632, died December 1675) was a [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[Baroque]] painter. He spent his life in the town of [[Delft]]. Vermeer came from a [[Protestant]] family but he [[marriage|married]] a [[Catholic]], named Catherina Bolnes, in April 1653. They had eleven children. Vermeer mainly painted people in daily life. He painted people in detail and used rich colors. He kept the [[wikt:background|background]]s simple. This contrast makes the viewer focus on the main [[point]]. He used [[Perspective (graphical)|perspective]] technique to draw lines from one [[dot]] on the [[canvas]]. He used this technique on his 17 paintings. Those paintings have a little dot which may be used for perspective. Vermeer’s painted women often wear blue [[clothes]]. This color blue is made from a natural [[mineral]] called [[lapis lazuli]]. There is no [[self portrait]] of Jan Vermeer. His face may be in some other paintings, especially ''The Art of Painting'' (''De Schilderkunst'') and ''The Procuress'' (''De Koppelaarste''), but there is no proof that the man is Vermeer. When Vermeer died his family had financial troubles, and after his death many of his paintings were sold at auction. Vermeer became more famous after being rediscovered by art historians and art collectors in the 1800s. == Sources == *[http://www.essentialvermeer.com/index.html Essential Vermeer], This site covers much of Vermeer's life, works, and environment *[http://www.virtualvermeer.com/index.html Virtual Vermeer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717213416/http://www.virtualvermeer.com/index.html |date=2011-07-17 }}, Familiar biography, interesting entries *[http://arttube.boijmans.nl/en/video/VanMeegeren_en/ Van Meegeren's Fake Vermeers at Arttube (Museum Boijmans)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428002653/http://arttube.bo