View of Delft

View of Delft is an oil painting by Johannes Vermeer, painted . The painting of the Dutch artist's hometown is among his best known. It is one of three known paintings of Delft by Vermeer, along with The Little Street and the lost painting House Standing in Delft, and his only cityscape. According to art historian Emma Barker, cityscapes across water, which were popular in the Netherlands at the time, celebrated the city and its trade. Vermeer's View of Delft has been held in the Dutch Royal Cabinet of Paintings at the Mauritshuis in The Hague since its establishment in 1822. Description A technical analysis shows that Vermeer used calcite, lead white, yellow ochre, natural ultramarine, and madder lake pigments. The landscape was painted from an elevated position to the southeast of Delft, possibly the upper floor of the Mechelen tavern where the artist's studio was located. To the very right of the painting is a medieval brick building called the Rotterdam Gate, in front of which are two herring busses. It is one of two gates on Delft's south side, the other being the Schiedam Gate, shown in the middle of the composition. There is a bridge between the Rotterdam Gate and the Schiedam Gate, which has a clock on its roof. Behind the Schiedam Gate is a long red-roofed arsenal now known as the Legermuseum. The buildings are reflected in the calm harbour of the river Schie, which was colloquially known as the Kolk (pond). On the lower left side of the painting, five people are waiting to board a passenger barge to take them to Rotterdam, Schiedam, or Delfshaven. The passenger barge was pulled by a horse and could hold up to thirty people. Vermeer painted his initials, VM, on the red interior of the barge. To the barge's right are two women talking to each other. Vermeer originally painted a third person next to them, but later changed his mind and painted him out.