Johannes Vermeer
The Geographer
1669
Johannes Vermeer's 'The Geographer' (c. 1668–1669) is a rare single-figure portrait of a man, widely considered a pendant to 'The Astronomer' in the Louvre. A young scholar in a richly patterned robe and beret stands in morning light from a window, compasses in his right hand and his left resting on the sill; maps, a terrestrial globe, and a signed cabinet around him celebrate the 17th-century Dutch enthusiasm for scientific instrument-making. Held today by the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, it is one of the most beloved of Vermeer's surviving thirty-four autograph paintings.
Exhibition Venue
Related Stories
Image source: Wikimedia Commons