I had started documenting some of my fave paintings in my blog. Here is an example:
The Astronomer by Vermeer (1668)
The Astronomer is a painting finished in about 1668 by the Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer. It is in oil on canvas, 51 cm × 45 cm (20"x17") and is on display at the Louvre, in Paris, France.
Nice Large Detail:
http://oldmasters.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/The-Astronomer-by-Vermeer.jpg
As you can see, the Dutch artist Vermeer was a bad man with the brush. I could just copy and paste wiki gargle here but I rather just keep it brief, so if youwant to learn more about him, just look him up and you probably should cause look at that painting. In the 17th century, being a scientist was hot sh*t and many paintings of the profession were commissioned. While the identity of the scientist in the painting was never confirmed, it is believed he was a close friend of the artist and was in multiple paintings in a series, the other painting is titled, The Geographer, which depicts a similar looking man contemplating a map of sorts.
Vermeer painted in the
Baroque Style and it is believed that Vermeer only painted 34 works of art and while a genius, its evident he was very underappreciated as he never became wealthy and actually left his family in debt after his death. Did he squander his money? Was he a gambler? Was there illness that drained his earnings? sounds like stuff his biographies might talk about. [The Baroque is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1740s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including the Iberian Peninsula it continued, together with new styles, until the first decade of the 1800s]
I came across the painting years ago, being a fan of astronomy, it often appears in science magazines and blogs but never stopped to learn about it. This was one of many paintings taken by the n*zis in WW2 that were retrieved at the end of the war by The Monument Men, yes those Monument Men.
I love the painting because it reminds me of myself whenever I spot a globe. I just have to go look at it and hopefully get to touch it. I don't know why maps and globes really grab my attention, perhaps its my vivid imagination that instantly transports me to those geographical places. I like the work in the blue table cloth, blue was a very expensive color to buy and the way Vermeer folds the patterned fabric onto itself is just f*cking bad *ss. And the geometry that is played with the eyes, take the left corner of the painting in the background, it lines up with the top of the bottle and the corner of the hutch. I'm not gonna pretend I'm some art expert but I can see something going on with those lines. It's a simple moment but I feel Vermeer captured it superbly because it inspires exploration and seeking of knowledge and I see myself as that man touching that globe. Think about this, we can all replicate this painting, but think about how much more we know about the world and universe compared to what was known to astronomers back then. We just landed yet another more sophisticated rover on planet Mars last week!!!! So when we touch the globes today....we are very lucky to have unlimited knowledge at the touch of a finger. Like literally!!
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