How does this artwork elucidate its Camera obscura?
Historians have hotly debated whether or not Vermeer used a camera obscura. A camera obscura, meaning "dark chamber," was a closed room with a small hole covered with a convex lens through which light could pass, casting a reverse image onto the wall that the artist could then trace. There is no documentary evidence that Vermeer used a camera obscura, but there are several clues that could point to its usage. In The Officer and the Laughing Girl, the man appears to be significantly larger than the woman, which could be a result of using a camera obscura. Another piece of evidence pointing to Vermeer's use of a camera obscura is his detailed maps, which would be very difficult to reproduce without the aid of optical technology. Other artists were known to use a camera obscura for this very purpose. A third piece of evidence is found in Girl with a Red Hat. Without a camera obscura, the light on the lions' heads would be rectangular, as the light would be coming from a window with rectangular panes, but Vermeer has painted the light as circles, an effect that would be created by viewing the image through a lens. Because of the diffused highlights painted on the buildings and in the water, art historian Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. believes that Vermeer did use a camera obscura to create View of Delft. Other historians are not as convinced. Art historian Karl Schütz insists that Vermeer never used a camera obscura in any painting.
Delft camera obscura Camera obscura Girl with a Red Hat