Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

Figure 1. Perspective drawing of Vermeer's Glass of Wine, 1658-1660.
the painter draws the string up a little from the surface, using the free hand,
and lets it snap back onto the canvas. The powdery chalk is thus applied to
the surface of the painting; the line can be traced with a pencil or brush. The
remaining dust can be gently wiped or blown away, leaving little or no trace
of the method except the pin point.
The distance points, positioned on either side of the vanishing point on the
horizon, provide the basis fo r the diagonals, which in turn form the basis of
the tiled floors. Distortion occurs at the corners if the horizon is placed
relatively high and the distance points are close to the vanishing point. Examples
of this are observed in the Glass of Wine (1658-1660), with its viewing
angle of approximately 43° (Fig. 1), and the Girl with The Wine Glass (1659-
1660), which has an even smaller angle of approximately 35° (31, 32). The
Music Lesson (1662-1665), in which Vermeer again returns to a large angle,
(approximately 44°), is the last picture in his oeuvre to show a certain distortion
of the floor tiles due to the short interval from the distance points
(33). In The Concert (1665-1666), the angle again returns to about 34°; in The
Allegory of Painting (1666-1667), the viewing angle has decreased to around
30° (Fig. 2). In The Love Letter (1667-1670) the angle declines to about 28°,
and in the last painting executed by his hand, A Lady Seated at the Virginals
(1673-1675), Vermeer reduces the viewing angle to only 22° (Fig. 3) (34,
35).
A growing tendency can clearly be observed over the years to let the distance
points move further away from the scene. By doing this, Vermeer eliminated
the distortion of the floor tiles in the foreground corners, particularly as he
moved his vanishing point toward the edge of the painting at the same time.
As the vanishing point can still be identified in many of Vermeer's pictures,
his method of using threads attached to a pin inserted at the central point is
evident. The distance points, however, could constitute a problem. Would he
be able to determine the position of the diagonals on the edge of his canvas
when space recedes towards the back walls in his interiors? This is hardly
Figure 2. Perspective drawing of Vermeer's Allegory of Painting, 1666-1 667.
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