Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch Baroque era painter born in October, 1632. He was raised in a middle-class working family, which is said to have influenced much of his work. He apprenticed in Amsterdam, though no one knows who’s apprentice he was. Vermeer became a member of the Guild of St. Luke at the age of 21, and sold many of his works to an unnamed collector for high prices. He died at the age of 43 in 1675 of illness, though his wife attributed it to stress over financial matters, and he left his family saddled with debt upon his death.

Johannes Vermeer was known for using ridiculously expensive pigments for his paintings. He combined colours and worked in a way that suggested a strong understanding of the reflection of light and how objects colours are influenced by the surrounding environment. Much of his artwork lacks evidence for planning, as no drawings of his have ever been found, and many of his paintings appear as though he just picked up a brush and started. Despite this, many of his paintings are surreally realistic in their attention to detail, so much so that art historians still argue over Vermeer’s methods.

34 out of his 50 speculated works have survived; a small number in comparison to other artists of the Baroque period.