Who was Johannes Vermeer?
In 1632, Vermeer was born in Delft, the Netherlands. Despite the fact that nothing is known about his early life, historians believe that based on his early works, he desired to be a historical painter.
However, by the 1650s, his style had grown to include more complex symbolism and a focus on intimate interior themes, which would later become a signature of his work.
His most renowned piece, The Girl with the Pearl Earring, was completed in 1665 and is currently on exhibit in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague.
In 1675, Vermeer passed away after a brief illness. Despite the fact that only 35 worldwide works have been credited to him, he is now considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age.
His works were featured in a Dutch masters exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2019. They also included pieces from the Leiden Collection and the Musee du Louvre, including Rembrandt, Jan Lievens, and Frans Hals.
What are Google Doodles?
Google Doodles appear at random times throughout the year, converting Google's standard logo into an animation to honor a historical figure or event.
Seasonal or joyful events, such as International Women's Day, might be marked with doodles.
Google Doodle celebrates once-forgotten Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer.
Although he is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the Dutch Golden Age, art historians needed centuries to rediscover him and his delicate touch.
Johannes Vermeer was a Baroque Dutch painter who is most known for capturing the serene aspects of daily life in home indoor settings in exquisite detail. His subtle use of light and shadow, as well as his perspective-correct paintings, have earned him a reputation for stark contrasts.
Vermeer is regarded as one of the best artists of the Dutch Golden Age, despite the fact that just 35 of his paintings have survived. On Friday, the 26th anniversary of the launch of an exhibition including 21 of Vermeer's paintings at Washington, DC's National Gallery of Art, Google dedicated a Doodle to him.
Today, he is well-liked, but that wasn't always the case. Vermeer was born in 1632 in Delft, Holland, but little is known about his life because no personal papers have ever been discovered. Vermeer died at the age of 43, leaving his wife in debt, despite his middling success as a painter. Vermeer was essentially ignored by the art world for nearly two centuries before being rediscovered in the late 19th century, maybe because he painted very few paintings.
The 1665 oil painting Girl with a Pearl Earring is possibly his most famous work, having appeared in various literary and cinematic adaptations in recent years, including a 1999 historical novel of the same name that detailed a fictional story about the painting's production.
Friday's Doodle shows three of Vermeer's other notable paintings side by side as if they were on display in a museum. The Art of Picture (also known as The Allegory of Painting) is an oil on canvas painting on the left that depicts an artist painting a woman standing for a portrait in his studio between 1666 and 1668.
Lady Writing a Letter With Her Maid, a 1670-1671 work depicting a woman seated at a table composing a letter as her maid stands behind her, gazing out a window as she waits for the letter to be finished, is in the center.
Finally, on the right, there's Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, a mysterious picture painted around 1657-59. For many years, the artwork was assigned to numerous artists before Vermeer was identified as the creator in 1880.
The artwork was altered decades after Vermeer's death to hide a picture of a big cupid hanging on the wall behind the girl. Cupid's overpainted picture was discovered in 1979 by X-ray, and while Google's version shows the changed version, the god of love was returned to the artwork in 2021 after a three-year restoration operation.
With Cupid once again hovering over the girl, it's possible that a relationship exists between her and the letter's author.
However, if you look closely, you'll notice that each of Vermeer's paintings has two letters from its name put into it.
Through Google's Arts and Culture project, you may learn more about Vermeer's work.