The Dutch Vermeer used the camera booth to paint his portraits

According to the text, a group of Jesuit monks taught the painter the use of pictograph, which is the first evidence of the influence of the Catholic Church on the Creator, recognized as one of the masters of Baroque art, who was previously Protestant.

Also known as the National Museum Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum plans to install 28 paintings by this Dutch Golden Age painter in February, the largest exhibition ever held.

There are not many details about Vermeer’s life, but it is known that his home in Delft, a city between The Hague and Rotterdam, was next to a Jesuit mission that housed a hidden church.

At the time, the Catholic denomination was outlawed by Calvinists, but about a third of the population remained loyal to the Vatican.

Used in various ways for thousands of years, a camera obscura is a black optical device that makes it possible to obtain a flat projection of an outer image onto the inner region of its surface.

“Camera light effects are also found in Vermeer’s paintings, leaving little doubt that the artist was inspired by them,” the museum said.

The painter used a balanced division of surfaces, in which he also expressed complex structures and situations in a simple manner and with few elements. Geometry played an important role in the formation of his works.

Although he painted historical and allegorical paintings, the human dimension of his paintings stands out today, particularly the female figures who can be noticed in the middle of a task. It was a great creator of frozen moments, where an air of solitude and stillness can be appreciated.

His works include Girl with a Pearl Earring, Music Lesson (Knight and Lady Playing the Maiden), Art of Painting, Astronomer, Maid with Milk Jug, Woman Writing a Letter and Maid, and The Pearl Octagon.

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