Johanna (Jan) Vermeer (vur MAYR) was born in the Netherlands in the city of Delft. His father was an art dealer, and through the early contacts with artists Jan became interested in painting. The majority of his work was portraits which he painted for people, and he only painted about forty pictures during his lifetime.

He usually only included one or two people in a picture. He depicted people doing everyday things, and most of the settings were indoors. Women were his favorite subjects. He frequently had a window in his paintings.  "The Lacemaker" you can see how her handwork is probably illuminated by the sun streaming in through a window.

His painting "Officer and Laughing Girl" includes a map on the wall. During that time maps were very expensive, and to own such a map indicated wealth and education.

Vermeer spent his whole life in the city of Delft. One of his most famous paintings is "View of Delft".

He married Catherina Bolnes and they had fifteen children. Four of them did not survive past childhood, but eleven of them grew up. The family lived with Vermeer's mother-in-law Maria Thins for some time. It would be very expensive providing for such a large family. Early on there was enough money, but later when the government flooded their land to protect the country, their farm was ruined. Vermeer himself was devastated, lost his health, and died in a very short time. He left Catherina a widow with ten children still at home. It was hard for her to provide for them.

Vermeer's paintings were not appreciated during his lifetime, and it was not until 200 years later that people realized the importance of his work.