The Art of Painting

Vermeer's largest and arguably most ambitious work, The Art of Painting shows an artist — probably Vermeer himself — seated at his easel painting a young model dressed as Clio, the muse of history. A luxurious chandelier hangs overhead; a large map of the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands fills the back wall. Vermeer kept the painting until his death, suggesting he regarded it as his masterpiece. It is now considered one of the greatest paintings in the Western tradition.