42 “You know that your new master is headman of the Guild of St. Luke...”
p. 8 He was an art dealer as well as an artist, and paintings hung in almost
every room, even where I slept. There were more than fifty in all, though the number varied over time as he traded and sold them. p. 17
“Vermeer is not a sick man. He is not really ill until a day or two before his death. It is the strain of the debt that drives him into frenzy.” p. 246
Catharina describes her husband’s sudden decline as follows. The family is falling further into debt, mostly because of a war between
France and the Netherlands that begun in 1672. Not only do the art market collapse. Not even van Ruijven wants to buy paintings then. Income from
Maria Thins’ rents properties also dry up. She has problems collecting her rents. Vermeer has to take over the mortgage on his mother’s inn. And
then there are the children.” p. 245
a. Good Looking
Griet describes him as a man whose “eyes grey like the sea” p. 4, “their grey was like the inside of an oyster shell” p. 180. “He had a long, angular face,
and his expression was steady” p. 4. “His chin is firm and her lips is thin”. p. 190 Vermeer is a good-looking man and no wonder if Griet likes him. “His hair
is red of brick washed by rain”. p. 5 “When he smiled, his face was like an open window”. p. 61Vermeer is Griet’s spirit. “His smile made me grips my broom
tightly”. p. 68 … A man’s, low and dark like the wood of the table I was working on p.
3. He had no beard or moustache, and I was glad, for it gave him a clear appearance. p. 4
... He had a low voice, soothing voice that I liked to listen to. p. 83
From Vermeer’s personal description and from Griet’s point of view, we can conclude that Vermeer is a good-looking man.
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b. Perfectionist
Vermeer is a perfectionist painter and in some way restrained, so he only paints slowly and his family is constantly faced with financial problems. It is
getting worse when Vermeer dies and leaves only few paintings to support his family. “He was dead and he would paint no more paintings. There were so few—
I had heard that he never did faster, as Maria Thins and Catharina had wanted him to”. p. 243 He usually makes only few paintings a year, about two or three
paintings. He wants to dedicate himself to his job. We can see from other characters’ conversation in the quotation below that Vermeer is a perfectionist in
his work. “The master doesn’t paint enough to make the money for servants, you
see. Three paintings a year he does, usually. Sometimes only two. You don’t get rich from that.”
... He would always paint at his own pace. “... Young mistress wants him to paint more, but my mistress says speed
would ruin him.” p. 53
He will not stop working if he knows that the painting is not complete yet no matter who is to get it. His passion for a perfect painting is very strong and he
will not stop painting if it is not complete yet. “I would never stop working on a painting if I knew it was not complete, no matter who was to get it,” he muttered.
“That is not how I work.” p. 207 However, Maria Thins sometimes does not have the same point of view about it. She does not really happy when a fine
painting ended up in the hand of a baker. He was not paint faster, however. He spent five months on the girl with the
water pitcher. “It’s a shame such a fine painting is to go only to the baker,” she said one
day. “We could charge more if it were for van Ruijven.”
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44 In fact, Vermeer will do anything to complete his paintings. He also uses a
tool named camera obscura to help him making a better painting. He uses the camera, which belongs to van Leeuwenhoek for a couple of times.
“This is a tool. I use it to help me see, so that I am able to make the painting.”
“… My eyes do not always see everything” p. 63 “The camera obscura helps me to see in a different way,” he explained.
“To see more of what is there.” p. 64
Sometimes, he also does everything that he wants to complete his paintings even thought it can hurt others’ feelings. He forces Griet to wear the
other one of the pearl earrings though he will not see it in the painting. “You must wear the other one as well,” he declared, picking up the second
earring and holding it out to me. For a moment I could not speak. I wanted him to think of me, not of the
painting. “Why?” I finally answered. “It can’t be seen in the painting.” p. 221
“You must wear both,” he insisted. “It is a farce to wear only one.” p. 222
Due to the fact that he is a perfectionist, he needs someone with sharp eyes and delicate touch to clean up his studio. “He is looking for a maid who could
clean his studio without moving everything”. p. 8 Griet is the one with the criteria. By analysing Vermeer’s speech, the conversation between Griet and her
father, and Vermeer’s characters as seen by Tanneke and Griet’s father, we can conclude that Vermeer is a perfectionist painter who will not stop working if the
painting is not complete yet.
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c. Quiet
