About the same time the Dutch painter Pieter de Hooch unveiled his masterpiece, ‘The Courtyard on a House in Delft’ (see yesterday’s post), his contemporary, Johannes Vermeer was putting the finishing touches to his own masterpiece. ‘The Little Street.’ Like de Hooch’s work, Vermeer’s painting is a portrait of an ordinary domestic scene, seen from the street level. These depictions of life in Dutch golden age towns were a beloved subject of the period, and de Hooch and Vermeer were two of the greatest painters of that genre.
‘The Little Street’ is one of two surviving outdoor scenes by Vermeer, who is better known for his intimate portraits of interior domestic life in 17th century Holland. The house in the painting is located at Vlamingstraat 40–42 in Delft. The one on the right was where his aunt lived with her children from around 1645 until her death in 1670. According to a statement from the Rijksmuseum where the painting is held, Vermeer’s mother and sister lived close by. It is therefore likely that Vermeer knew the house well and that there were personal memories associated with it. Both houses are long gone.
Like de Hooch’s “Courtyard of a House in Delft”, Vermeer paid great attention to balance and composition. In the painting, straight angles alternate with the triangle of the house and of the sky giving the composition a pleasing vitality. The walls, stones and brickwork are painted in a thicker paint layer, making them almost palpable. The human activities – two children at play, and three women going about their chores – complete the scene, their humdrum activities creating a sense of quiet dignity of an ordinary day in an ordinary street.
Watch: A Commentary on ‘The Little Street’