|
|
Painting and Illusionism
 |
| Camera obscura, engraving, from Athanasius Kircher, Ars magna lucis et
vmbrae in decem libros (Rome, 1646), National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Circle of the National Gallery of Art |
The symbolic associations to history and fame are only part of Vermeer's
allegory on the art of painting. For Vermeer, painting meant more than
conveying abstract principles in a realistic form. Its very essence was
built on the conviction that an artist needed a thorough understanding of
the laws of nature to create a convincing illusion of reality. Such is the
seductive beauty of his paintings that their subtle artifice often goes
unnoticed. Vermeer succeeded to give this image a sense of life through his
masterful observation of the light that illuminates the figures and objects
in the room. He also applied his sophisticated knowledge of the rules of
linear perspective to give the interior the appearance of a credible space,
and to emphasize the painting's most important components. He located the
vanishing point just in front of the figure of Clio, directing the viewer's
eye toward her and giving her greater prominence in the composition.
|
 |
| Johannes Vermeer, Girl with the Red Hat, c. 1665/1666, oil on panel,
National Gallery of Art, Andrew W. Mellon Collection |
Vermeer may have made use of a camera obscura (literally "dark room") to
help him conceive, although not paint, the composition. This optical
device, a precursor of the modern camera, was a box with a small hole
through which rays of light passed to form an inverted image on a surface
opposite the hole. Images recorded with a camera obscura often
show discrepancies in scale similar to those found in this painting, and
some areas in clearer focus than others. Vermeer conveyed this optical
effect by varying his painting technique. He used a broad application of
paint to recreate the unfocused appearance of the drapery hanging over the
edge of the table, and a crisper brushstroke for the glint of light on the
chandelier and the aged surface of the map on the back wall. A similar
diffused focus is found in Vermeer's Girl with the Red Hat, which, as The Art of Painting, was painted
during the mid- to late 1660s. The image is executed with remarkable
spontaneity and informality, which may again be related to Vermeer's use of
a camera obscura. His fluid, painterly treatment can be compared to the
unfocused appearance of an image seen through such an optical device.
|
The apparent realism of Vermeer's scene is a quality seventeenth-century
Dutch artists often strove to achieve. In his theoretical treatise, Samuel
van Hoogstraten wrote: "A perfect painting is like a mirror of Nature, in
which things that are not there appear to be there, and which deceives in
an acceptable, amusing, and praiseworthy fashion." The notion that a
painting should deceive the eye with its illusionism dates back to
antiquity. In his Natural History, Pliny described a
competition between the artists Parrhasius and Zeuxis, both of whom were
intent on creating images that fooled the viewer into believing that the
objects depicted were real. Parrhasius won when he painted a curtain so
skillfully that Zeuxis tried to lift it to see the image beneath. We are
reminded of this story by the large tapestry in Vermeer's painting, which
seems to have been drawn aside to reveal the allegorical scene. Its
convincing heavy folds, colors, and textures, which Vermeer suggests with
multicolored highlights accenting the nubs of the weave, urge us to push it
back even further to reveal more of the room behind it.
 |
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Frans van Mieris the Elder, Pictura (An Allegory of Painting), 1661, oil
on copper, arched top: 5 x 3 1/2 in. (12.5 x 8.5 cm) |
The mimetic power of Vermeer's painting is embodied clearly in its
strong illusionism, but he also refers to it symbolically. On the table in
front of Clio is a mask, which was an established symbol of imitation and
the attribute given to the personification of Painting in Ripa's
Iconologia. The book describes the allegorical figure of
Painting as: "A beautiful Woman...with a gold chain on the neck on which
hangs a Stage Mask....She should hold a brush in one hand and a Palette in
the other." These prescriptions were followed closely by Vermeer's
contemporary, Frans van Mieris, in his painting of the same theme . He adhered to the established conventions of allegory painting by
depicting the abstract concept in the form of a single female figure.
Vermeer departed radically from this tradition, breathing new life into the
coded language of allegory and presenting the symbolic mask as a studio
prop left casually on the table.
A similar sense of immediacy is found in Vermeer's Girl with a
Pearl Earring, in which he established an engaging
rapport between the girl and her viewer. With liquid eyes and parted mouth
she looks directly at the viewer, radiating purity and captivating all who
gaze upon her. A diffused light illuminates the soft skin of her face,
which emerges dramatically from the dark background. Despite her striking
presence and tangibility, the girl retains an air of mystery. Her costume
and exotic headdress are not the fashion of Vermeer's day, which suggests
that she possibly represented an allegorical or biblical figure, perhaps a
Sybil. As in The Art of Painting, there is a compelling yet
ambiguous relationship between the real and the allegorical. In both
paintings, Vermeer modified and idealized reality to achieve a sense of
permanence and timelessness.
|
|
