Giants of Delft: Johannes Vermeer and the Natural Philosophers: The Parallel Search for Knowledge During the Age of Discovery

Rating:
Summary: Vermeer's Optical Way
Review: The range of Vermeer's genius-encompassing scientific and philosophical investigation, pictorial and painterly virtuosity, musical, philosophical, and literary allusions-was enormous. This is but one of the reasons that those who believe Vermeer did not make extensive use of such devices as the camera obscura are not even wrong. Such arguments entirely miss the point of Vermeer's complexity. Robert Huerta's book should inspire an appreciation of Vermeer in the context of the natural science of his time and "more [as he says] in the tradition of a Durer, a Velazquez, or even a Leonardo...." Huerta's bibliography is extensive, his research exhaustive, and his conclusions are always supported with substantial evidence. Even when he conjectures, he does so in an informed way. Note especially the link he makes with Vermeer's "The Astronomer" and Raphael's "Urania, Prime Mover" at the Vatican.

This book will reward those who have both a working knowlege of Vermeer and an appreciation of the history of science as well as an understanding of scientific methodology. It is an exciting addition to literature about Vermeer and builds upon the insights of Gowing and Steadman as those insights have helped to explain Vermeer's expressive "optical way."