The Little Street

One of only two surviving Vermeer cityscapes, The Little Street depicts a modest Delft street with weathered brick façades, a woman sewing in a doorway, and children playing on the pavement.

The location

The houses stood on the Vlamingstraat, beside one of Delft’s canals. In 2015 the art historian Frans Grijzenhout pinpointed the spot as Vlamingstraat 40–42, matching the widths of the façades and the two passages in the painting to a 1667 register of the tax levied for dredging the city’s canals. The house on the right belonged to Vermeer’s widowed aunt, Ariaentgen Claes, who sold tripe from it and gave the adjoining alley — the Penspoort, or “tripe gate” — its name, a personal tie that may explain why Vermeer chose so unassuming a view.