The Stone of Vermeer

As part of the Vermeer year and the arrival of the famous painting 'The Little Street of Vermeer' to the Prinsenhof museum in Delft, I made a new work especially for the 'In my Little Street' exhibition in the Prinsenkwartier, an installation with the title De Steen Vermeer. The installation consists of a combination of photographic elements, wooden objects and an antique stone and has a size of 200 x 200 cm. After the exhibition, the installation was in the Prinsenkwartier for another year during the 'Vermeer year'.

The discovery of the exact address of 'Het Straatje van Vermeer' has an exciting sequel! This project 'The Stone of Vermeer' brings the stone that Johannes Vermeer stood on when he made the painting back home in Delft. New research has established that the paving stone found on Johannes Vermeer when he made the painting was found. Consultation from various sources, including Google Maps, shows that the location where Vermeer made the painting around 1658 is directly opposite Vlamingstraat 40-42, at the current house numbers 37-39.

From further investigation of the painting, in combination with 17th century archival records, we know that the paving stones used at the time are so-called IJsselklinkers. These yellow stones have served for a long time. They can still be seen on a photo from 1925 by Peter Odijk. Not long after, the stones were replaced by cheaper walnut paving stones. The historic IJssel bricks from Vlamingstraat were sold to a trader who has stored the bricks with a marker for the location. Of the paving stones that were located exactly at Vlamingstraat 37-39, only one has been preserved. This original stone is presented in this installation. Information about Prinsenkwartier