I did a lot of research for Fate’s Immortal Hands (now querying.) Here are some random things I learned:
FAMILY: Jan’s eldest daughter, Maria Vermeer, was born in 1654 and was likely named for her maternal grandmother, Maria Thins, and/or the Virgin Mary. At around twenty years of age in 1674, she married Gilliszoon Cramer, the son of a Delft silk merchant. Maria wed just one year before her father’s death, and she died sometime after 1713. Her husband outlived her.
Johannes and Catharina Vermeer did indeed have a servant named Tanneke Everpoel, just as mentioned in Tracy Chevalier’s book Girl With a Pearl Earring. There is no proof, however, that the titular portrait was of a servant (the book made up a second servant named Griet, who posed for the painting). Rather, it is believed to be a painting of one of Vermeer’s daughters. Perhaps Maria?
PAINTING: Vermeer likely painted with quick, confident strokes.
He might have used the camera obscura, a tool that could explain the realism in his work.
While there isn’t much surviving information on the Baroque painter, we know that he was in debt and yet produced precious few paintings.
Paintbrush strokes left some hairs on at least one of his paintings. When studied, it was found to be boar’s hair.
Maria Thins, Vermeer’s mother-in-law was divorced from her first husband, who was abusive. She had at least one son as well her daughter Catherina.
RANDOM ART FACTOIDS
Edvard Munch’s masterpiece “The Scream” was painted on cardboard. The painting has been stolen at least twice, due to poor security at the museum.
There was a department at Scotland Yard called the Art Squad, which dealt with art theft and possibly forgeries (my memory is hazy here.) Last I heard, it had been dissolved, but who knows? Maybe it’s made or will make a comeback.
During WWII, a failed painter Van Meegeren turned forger and made a painting that he claimed to be a Vermeer. He used plastic mixed with paint and baked the artwork in the oven to form the proper cracks that make a painting look aged. The plastic caused the painting to pass the alcohol test (oil paint would come away from the canvas if it wasn’t old). He fooled the N*zis, but was arrested after the war for his crime. He died of heart failure in jail.
The cracks in a painting that denote age and wear are called craquelure.
Oil paints never dry. They oxidize/cure.
You can ask questions to the Louvre and they are really good about answering! My email was in English, the response was in French, but we just both used the internet to translate.
RANDOM CULTURAL INFORMATION
In France, they drive on the right side of the road and the steering wheel is on the left, just as it is in the USA.
CCTV security cameras aren’t really a big thing in France (at least, as of my reading from a book of the 2010s), thanks to the N*zi occupation during WWII. Privacy is important.
Paper napkins at cafes in France? They aren’t likely to always be provided.
Breakfast in France tends to be on the sweet side. Pain au chocolat, anyone?
The Sorbonne is in the Latin Quarter (Quartier Latin) of Paris.
__
What’s something you learned recently from reading?
Beth
Beth Overmyer 