“Het Straatje” or The Little Street:
Location: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Johannes Vermeer, was one of the greats. A treasure of the realist Dutch Baroque style of Protestant Reformation Art, celebrated even today for his exceptional ability in capturing the serene moments of everyday life with remarkable precision, seeped in photographic realism.
Selecting a single masterpiece from his extensive portfolio is challenging. However, among his accomplished body of work, “The Little Street” stands out as a globally acclaimed mnemonic of everyday life in the Golden Age of the Netherlands. It’s beauty, timeless in its portrayal and elevation of the role of women within the specific cultural context of that era.
Deceptively simple in its subject matter, Vermeer’s composition offers a window of curious yet bland voyeurism into the morning chores within a Dutch household, punctuating the stillness of everyday routine life. His brushwork, capturing a solitary moment in time framed for posterity, a testament to his unmatched skill in elevating the intimate, married to the mundane.
“The Little Street” represents a tranquil scene depicting two buildings situated side by side on an unknown street. The open doorways spill into a brick layered road and as you gaze into the painting you see two women engrossed in their daily chores, one sewing and the other seemingly cleaning, while their children play at the entrance.
Vermeer references his composition beautifully, by framing the brickwork, windows and doorway, providing structure to his tableau. However, as with many of Vermeer’s works, his real magic lies in the intricacies and layers of meaning that reveal themselves upon closer examination.
Like most of his seminal work, the truly remarkable aspect of this painting is Vermeer’s masterful use of light. The soft, diffused light that bathes the scene appears to emanate from an unknown source, casting gentle shadows and accentuating the textures of the brickwork, wooden window frames, and fabrics. This light does more than merely illuminate; it breathes life into the scene. It’s as if Vermeer has captured a fleeting moment in time, a brief interlude in the lives of these individuals, and immortalised it on canvas.
The interplay of light and shadow serves not only as a technical marvel but also as a metaphor for the transitory nature of life, representing those fleeting moments that often pass us by unnoticed. Through its gossamer softness, Vermeer prompts us to appreciate the beauty and significance of this everyday banal moment.
Texture plays an equally pivotal role in this painting. The intricate details of the external walls are rendered with immaculate precision. This attention to detail not only showcases Vermeer’s technical prowess but also adds depth and dimension to the scene inviting viewers to almost reach out and touch the roughness of the brick facade. It’s an extremely simple yet sensory experience, drawing viewers into Vermeer’s meticulous craft.
Beyond the external facade, Vermeer’s sketch offers a poignant commentary on the lives of Dutch women in the 17th century. The two women, immersed in their domestic chores, symbolise the primary role that women undertook in the domestic sphere of that era. He portrays their tasks with dignity and grace, neither patronising nor dismissive. Instead, he elevates their everyday activities, emphasising their significance and value.
Some critics voice that this was a subtle critique of societal norms, encouraging viewers to recognise and appreciate women’s contributions in the society of that time. This may be debatable. Maybe all Vermeer did was paint the exact scene he saw in front of his eyes capturing society as it was, without more to it, but what you choose to believe comes down to your personal preference.
Like all great artwork, it’s open to interpretation.
The presence of children playing at the entrance adds more nuance and context. They lend a certain lightness, a blend of innocence and freedom to the scene, but like most great storytellers, Vermeer uses them to represent the critical balance that women had to strike in that era between housework and raising their offsprings — a role so important and yet taken so much for granted for so many more centuries to come.
The open doorway, with its interplay of light and shadow is also quite unique. Vermeer entirely removes the threshold between the intimate privacy of home and the public realm. For the viewer, the entire artwork is part of the same microcosm where everyday life spills into the street. What’s private becomes almost public and what’s public becomes an extension of the space the children need to play, away from the privacy of their homes. Brilliantly capturing how family neighbourhoods were designed within the socio-cultural and economic conditions of that era.
“The Little Street” is also famous in popular culture because of two other reasons.
Firstly, it is one of the rare works by Vermeer without significant figurative elements and one of the only three classified as Townscapes, the other two being the View of Delft and the House Standing in Delft. The other reason, is that the sheer simplicity and realism of the painting has prompted art historians and viewers for centuries to debate whether the building depicted in the painting had a real-life counterpart, a place Vermeer knew or visited. A topic of fascination and debate in art circles from the time the painting was published in 1657, and a mystery that many have tried to investigate, by honing in on Delft, the town where Vermeer grew up.
The debate continues even today.
However, in 2015 almost 350 years after the painting was published, a certain Professor Frans Grijzenhout of the University of Amsterdam proposed new proof in the identification of the building, based on analysis of 17th-century tax records of Delft, Vermeer’s hometown.
He suggested that the exact location was Vlamingstraat in Delft, specifically at №40 and 42 Vlamingstraat. He arrived at this conclusion by examining city tax ledgers that included calculations of each house owner’s tax obligations and recorded the width of buildings and nearby passageways. Two houses, approximately 20.6 feet wide, with adjacent passageways measuring just under four feet, closely matched the buildings depicted in the painting.
Research also revealed that the property on the right in the painting belonged to Vermeer’s aunt, Ariaentgen Claes van der Minne and the passageway beside the house was known as the Penspoort, or Tripe Gate. Vermeer’s mother and sister also lived on the same canal, diagonally opposite. Further research has also showed that the buildings and tree as seen on the painting match with period correct maps of the location. Also the location of the outlet sewer of the ‘tripe’ gutter running from the left doorway to the canal is correct in this present day, suggesting that Johannes Vermeer likely knew the house well and had personal memories associated with it.
Pictures of 40–42 Vlamingstraat Delft, seem eerily similar to the building in the painting.
So, If you are ever in Delft, I would suggest check it out for yourself. The truth probably will never be known , but it is one of those things about art history that makes it so fascinating.
