Masterpiece

Johannes Vermeer

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) was not a very prolific painter - fewer than 40 of his paintings are known, and it is unlikely he painted many more than those. Most of his works are of domestic interior scenes, possibly of his own house.

The little street

A little street, somewhere in Delft. Nobody knows which street it was, and maybe the street never existed. Two children are playing on the pavement, inside a woman is sewing, in the passageway between the houses a woman is probably cleaning, judging from the soapy water streaming through the gutter. An everyday scene from a Dutch city in the golden age, painted in Vermeer's inimitable, almost casual style.

The little street is on permanent display in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.