46 Through studying Vermeer’s personal descriptions, Tanneke’s reaction to
various situations and events, Vermeer’s characters as seen by Griet and Tanneke, Vermeer’s mannerism, and Griet’s father speech, they show that Vermeer is a
quiet man who does not have much interest in socializing and prefers to do things on his own. He prefers to be alone in a quiet place where no one can disturb him,
whether he is working on his painting or not.
d. Calm
Vermeer is also a very calm man. He always appears very calm in every conflict. Vermeer is angry with van Ruijven when they have a conversation on the
street and make an arrangement for Griet that will be the object of his next commission. He asks Vermeer to start painting Griet. He tries hard to keep his
calm expression because he does not want to lose his patron by showing his anger. “There was a long silence. I glanced at my master. He was struggling to maintain
a calm expression, even though he is angry.” p. 178 Whenever his wife is angry, he will calm her down. At the end of the
story, when Catharina knows that Vermeer paints Griet and tries to ruin it, he catches her by the wrist and holds her wrist firmly.
He knew, tough. He knew his own wife. … He caught her by the wrist as she plunged the diamond blade of the
knife towards the painting… Catharina struggled but he held her wrist firmly, waiting for her to drop the knife. p. 228
Considering Vermeer’s mannerism, Vermeer’s reaction towards various situations and events, and his characters as seen by Griet, it can be concluded that
Vermeer is a calm man who can control and maintain his emotion and anger.
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e. Exceptional
He tries hard to keep his good relationship with Catharina and fulfil her needs, but he often acts in a peculiar way. His unique characteristic also made him
difficult to communicate with his wife well. He always shows his feelings by the unique actions he makes, not from the little he says or the expressions he does not
show on his face. He does not show his expression on his face much but Griet has learned to gauge his mood.
… He did not show muchbut from the way he moved about the studio and attic. When he was happy, when he was working well, he strode
purposefully back and forth, no hesitation in his stride, no movement wasted. If he had been a musical man, he would have been humming or
singing or whistling under his breath. When things did not go well, he stopped, stared out the window, shifted abruptly, stared up the attic ladder
only to climb back down before he was halfway up.” p. 147
According to van Leeuwenhoek, Vermeer is a painter who has unique characters. He is a special man who always does what he wanted to do without
thinking the consequences. He knows Vermeer well because he is his close friend. “He is also an exceptional man” p. 197.
“His eyes are worth a room full of gold. But sometimes he sees the world only as he wants it to be, not as it is. He does not understand the
consequences for others of his point of view. He thinks only of himself and his work.”
“... The women in his paintings—he traps them in his world. You can get lost there.” p. 197
“He also always does what he wanted to do without considering the result” p. 207.
From Griet and van Leeuwenhoek’s conversation, Vermeer’s character as seen by Griet, and Griet’s speech, we can conclude that Vermeer is a great painter
who has unique characters.
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f. Loving
