The Art of Painting
The Art of Painting (Johannes Vermeer) — The Art of Painting · Johannes Vermeer · c. 1666–68.
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About this work
- Artist
- Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675)
- Year
- c. 1666–1668
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 120 × 100 cm
- Collection
- Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
- Movement
- Dutch Golden Age
A painter seen from behind, in a slashed doublet and black beret, sits at his easel painting a young woman who poses as Clio, the muse of history, with a laurel wreath, a trumpet and a book; a heavy tapestry is pulled back at the left, a brass chandelier hangs above and a large map of the Netherlands covers the back wall. Vermeer painted it in Delft around 1666 to 1668, and it is his largest and most elaborate interior, an allegory of painting's claim to lasting fame. He never sold it; his widow tried to keep it from creditors after his death. Hitler bought it in 1940, and it was recovered from a salt mine in 1945 and returned to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it had been since 1946.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Details & materials
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About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.



























