The Hidden Hour: Unraveling the Mystery of Vermeer’s View of Delft

Nov 25, 2024 | Discoveries, Highlights, Studies and Projects

The Secret of Vermeer’s “View of Delft”: A Masterpiece of Light and Time

Once hailed by Marcel Proust as the most beautiful painting in the world, View of Delft by Johannes Vermeer remains one of the most celebrated artworks of the Dutch Golden Age. Vermeer, often called the “painter of light,” seems to capture the scene much like a photograph—painting with light itself.

Yet, unlike a photograph, Vermeer’s masterpiece was created with masterful brushstrokes, often without detailed preparatory sketches. This duality of precision and spontaneity has inspired both admiration and mystery.


By Johannes Vermeer - www.mauritshuis.nl : Home : Info : : Image, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50398
By Johannes Vermeer – www.mauritshuis.nl : Home : Info : : Image, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50398

Did Vermeer Use a Camera Obscura?

In recent years, intriguing theories have surfaced about Vermeer’s potential use of a camera obscura, a tool also rumored to have influenced Caravaggio. The 17th century was, after all, an age of optical breakthroughs. Galileo invented the telescope, exploring the heavens, and it seems logical that painters might have embraced these advancements to refine their craft.

However, the intersection of art and science often remains controversial. While scientific evidence supporting such hypotheses could have been explored in greater depth during recent Vermeer exhibitions, many questions about his techniques still linger.


Unveiling New Insights

Modern tools, now accessible to all, are shedding fresh light on Vermeer’s enigmas. One particularly captivating question is: when exactly did Vermeer paint the scene, or better, what is the moment in time which is being represented?

Cities evolve over centuries, making it challenging to match elements in a painting with their modern-day locations. In the case of View of Delft, however, two key structures—one still visible today—have helped investigators. The Niewe Kerk’s bell tower, though partially obscured by trees and buildings, aligns closely with the perspective in the painting.

In 2019, a photograph published on Wikipedia proposed a possible vantage point for Vermeer, but it left many unconvinced. Using Google Street View, we believe we’ve identified a more accurate position—yet this is not the most compelling discovery.

Here is the current view, captured on Google Stree view, which appears to be very close to the location we identified as Vermeer’s viewpoint.

Forensic Art Analysis and a Fascinating Experiment

During the pandemic, French artist Franck Leibovici applied forensic techniques to paintings, using tools like Google Street View and SunCalc.org to deduce the time and date depicted in various artworks. His work, collected in What Time Is It?, extends across a range of artists, including Vermeer, Bruegel, de Chirico, and even Raphael and Leonardo.

For View of Delft, Leibovici concluded it was painted on a June morning in 1660. His reasoning?

  • The view faces north, with the sun positioned to the east or southeast.
  • Trees are in full bloom, consistent with late spring or early summer.
  • The herring-fishing season (May–June) had begun.
  • The church bell was undergoing maintenance during 1660–1661.

While his analysis is compelling, we found the vantage point and timing suggested by Leibovici to be inconsistent with certain details.


Recalculating the Scene with Modern Tools

We revisited the evidence using SunCalc.org and factored in the precession of the equinoxes—a slight shift in Earth’s orientation over centuries—to determine the sun’s position in 1660. While SunCalc.org only calculates solar data between 1900 and 2099, we used additional tools.

For calculating the sunrise time in Delft in 1660, we turned to timeanddate.com, which provides sun data for Amsterdam—a close enough approximation.

In the painting a bell clock shows a time which could be 2:40h PM, 7:10h AM or 7:10 PM.

Our calculations show that the sunrise in Delft on June 1, 1660, would have been about 10-15 minutes earlier than it was in 1900 (that is what is shown on the suncalc.org map here below) —around 3:30 AM.
The same logic applies to sunset, which would have been around 8:15 PM.
Therefore, when using Suncalc.org, we must factor in this time difference.

Had the clock in the painting shown 2:40 PM, the position of the sun would have been drastically different, casting a shadow toward the north west, which doesn’t match what we see in the painting.

The light illuminating the city in Vermeer’s work to many seemed to come from East, leading them to conclude that the scene takes place in the early morning hours. But according to Suncalc.org in fact at 7:10 AM the shadows would actually be casted towards north west. (See the image above: the shadow is the dark line, the position of the sun is indicated by the yellow dot).

However, if we examine the position of the sun in Suncalc.org and compare the shadows it casts, we find that they perfectly match those seen at 7:10 PM (taken into account the difference due to the different year, and thus the slightly different timing).


A Golden Moment Captured

It seems likely that Vermeer chose to immortalize Delft during this magical time of day. Was this choice symbolic, or simply a celebration of natural beauty? While the true significance may remain a mystery, there’s no denying that the golden hour creates the ideal light for both paintings and photographs.

Anna Pelagotti