Rondom Jan Vermeer Van Delft

Jan Vermeer was certainly of Flemish origin on the mother's side and very probably also on the father's side. In 1592 a silk worker named Willem Vermeer originating from Lierre married at Delft The painter's father, Reynier Vermeer; born in 1591, was also a silk worker. Later he settled in Amsterdam, where he associated with Flemish immigrants and in 1615 married an Antwerp girl, Digna Balthazars. It cannot be proved that Willem and Reynier Vermeer were related to each other, but this is probable because they had the same name and trade and moved in Reynier's circle of acquaintances. Notarial deeds show that the surname "Vos" was only used by Reynier Vermeer himself and never by his wife and children. On the contrary, when in 1655 the painter was referred to as "Johannes Rey nier sen Vosch" in a notarial deed he had the name cancelled and changed into "Vermeer". "Vos" is therefore probably only a nickname given to the father in allusion to Reynard the Fox and suggested by his Christian name and perhaps by his pranks. Until now not a single document has been found confirming the assertion made in the literature that Leonard Bramer was Jan Vermeer's teacher. In view of the friendly relations between the two families this is quite possible, although between 1643 and 1648 there are no records indicating that Bramer was at Delft. Nor did Bramer appear as a witness to Vermeer's marriage. He and another friend, however, interceded for him in April 1653 with Maria Tins, who refused her consent to her daughter Catharina's marriage to the painter. The marriage register mentions no witnesses at all. Swillens was wrong to assume that Vermeer painted in his "Little Street" a house on the Voldersgracht which was pulled down to make place for the building of St. Luke's Guild erected there in 1661. The site of this building had been occupied from of old by St. Christopher's Chapel of the Old Men's Home, but all the men's houses were behind the houses on the Voldersgracht and could only be entered through a small gate opening into the street. As early as 1596 the interior of this chapel had been converted into a Cloth and Serge Hall. A Delft archival document shows that in 1661 St. Luke's Guild was allowed to use the top floor of the chapel. The wooden vault of this loft was then painted by Bramer with representations of the Free Arts, as stated by Van Bleyswijck in a description of Delft (and by Boitet in his new description in 1729).