A Timeline of Vermeer's Life 1632

Modern art aficionados should recognize that the art world of the twentieth century bears little resemblance to the era of Johannes Vermeer. In the seventeenth century, the concept of private art galleries, eagerly anticipated international exhibitions, critical art reviews in newspapers, and extensive art commentary was virtually non-existent. Dutch painters, largely viewing themselves as mere skilled craftsmen, rarely documented their thoughts about themselves or their work. The general Dutch populace was not acutely aware of their living amidst the 'Golden Age of Dutch Painting,' and the way art was appreciated and discussed then differs markedly from our modern perspectives.

*Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History*
John Michael Montias
1989

The primary historical records concerning seventeenth-century Dutch artists, including Vermeer, are predominantly legal and transactional documents — notarial depositions, business records, and municipal clerical entries. These documents often present an individual's life from a rather adversarial viewpoint, lacking a comprehensive or balanced portrayal of their personal and professional experiences. For instance, significant life events like Vermeer's baptism, marriage, and burial are documented in the vellum-bound registers of Delft's Old and New Churches, but these only offer sparse glimpses into his life.

Regarding Vermeer's early years, the trail goes cold after his baptism in 1632 until he marries Catharina Bolnes in 1653. While subsequent archival records don't reveal much about Vermeer's personality, they do provide a clear picture of his family background and social environment.

The cornerstone of our understanding of Vermeer's life and times is John Michael Montias' seminal work, Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History. This book is a must-read for anyone intrigued by Vermeer or the artistic context of his time, as it forms the bedrock of all subsequent research on the artist. Montias embarked on an exploratory journey into the life of this enigmatic figure, unearthing surprising details: Vermeer's grandfather was a convicted counterfeiter, his grandmother ran illicit lotteries, and Vermeer himself fathered thirteen children, dying penniless at forty-three. These revelations underscore the fact that much remains to be discovered about Vermeer, a fascinating artist shrouded in mystery.

Vermeer: A View of Delft, Anthony Bailey — *Vermeer: A View of Delft*
Anthony Bailey
*2001*

Anthony Bailey's Vermeer: A View of Delft is another vibrant addition to literature on the Dutch master, offering an accessible and engaging narrative. Bailey skillfully intertwines the life stories of Vermeer's contemporaries, including the renowned scientist Anton Van Leeuwenhoek, and delves into Vermeer's possible Catholic faith in a predominantly Protestant Netherlands. His approach of structuring the book around individual paintings adds a unique dimension, allowing readers to journey through Vermeer's life and times.

Bailey commences with the catastrophic gunpowder explosion in Delft in 1654, a pivotal event in Vermeer's life, and concludes with an exploration of how Vermeer's art resonated through the ages — from influencing Marcel Proust's writings to being a subject of Han van Meegeren's infamous forgeries.

This book is not only a treasure for general readers but also a valuable resource for art history enthusiasts, thanks to its comprehensive perspective and Bailey's captivating writing style. It is a highly recommended read for both general and art history collections, promising to enrich one's understanding of Vermeer and his era.

In order to ensure reasonable loading time, this timeline has been divided into five sections.

1632: Vermeer's Age, 0

VERMEER'S LIFE & ART	Johannes Vermeer, son of Reynier Jansz. (c. 1591–1652) and Dignum Balthasars (circa 1595–1670), was baptized in Delft's Nieuwe Kerk. At the time, his parents had been married for seventeen years, and his baptism was witnessed by "Pt. Bramer," likely the notable Delft painter Leonaert Bramer, who would also witness Vermeer's wedding 21 years later. Named after his paternal grandfather, Jan Reyersz, a tailor, Johannes was given a Christian name commonly used by Catholics and upper-class Protestants, reflecting his family's lower middle-class status. His mother was illiterate, and his father was a diligent worker. Interestingly, Vermeer himself never went by the name Jan, although many 20th-century Dutch scholars referred to him as such, possibly aligning him more closely with Calvinist culture. Vermeer's father joined the Delft artists' guild as an art dealer on October 13, 1631. Prior to this, between 1629 and 1631, he was known as an innkeeper, a profession often associated with art dealing. Additionally, he is mentioned in a notary document as a "caffawerker," or silk worker.
DUTCH PAINTING	Still Life Pieter Claesz c. 1633 Landscape with Dunes Jan van Goyen 1630–1635 Jan van Goyen, whose tonal landscapes were immensely successful, moves from Leiden to The Hague, where he remains for the rest of his life. c. 1632, Rembrandt van Rijn establishes a successful career as fashionable portraitist. Rembrandt produces The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaas Tulp, a seminal work of art depicting a public dissection and showcasing his mastery of light and shadow.. Jan Wijnants, a Dutch painter, is born, contributing to the Dutch Golden Age of painting with his landscapes and scenes of rural life.
EUROPEAN PAINTING & ARCHITECTURE	Self-portrait with a Sunflower Anthony van Dyck c. 1632 Sir Christopher Wren, the renowned astronomer and architect, is born, later leaving an indelible mark on the architectural landscape of London, including the iconic St. Paul's Cathedral. Anthony Van Dyck becomes the court painter to Charles I and favorite portrait painter of an international aristocracy. Construction of the Taj Mahal, possibly designed by Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, commences, marking the beginning of the creation of one of the world's most iconic monuments, which will continue until 1653 Diego Velázquez paints Christ Crucified.
MUSIC	Feb. 18, Giovanni Battista Vitali, composer of the renowned Chaconne in G minor and other notable Baroque compositions, is born. Nov. 28, Jean-Baptiste Lully, composer, is born in Florence, Italy. At his death Lully is widely regarded as the most representative of French composers. Practically all his music is created to satisfy the taste and musical interests of Louis XIV. The ballets de cour (1653–1663) and the comédies-ballets (1663–1672) are performed as royal entertainments, the king himself often taking part in the dancing. Monteverdi takes holy orders.
LITERATURE	Aug. 9, Isaak Walton, author of the classic The Complete Angler, is born. The Second Folio of Shakespeare's works is published, preserving and disseminating the playwright's plays for future generations.
SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY	Spinoza Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher, (d. 1677) is born. Spinoza is one of the great philosophers of the age of Rationalism and a major influence thereafter, as on, paradoxically, both of the bitter enemies Arthur Schopenhauer and G.W.F. Hegel. Spinoza's God is not the God of Abraham and Isaac, not a personal God at all, and his system provides no reason for the revelatory status of the Bible or the practice of Judaism, or of any religion, for that matter. Galileo's book Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published with the full backing of the church censors. It is soon recognized to support Copernican theory and Galileo is put under house arrest for life. Oct. 24, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch naturalist, is born. Van Leeuwenhoek is internationally recognized for his studies in optics and scientific observations. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Christiaan Huygens (d. 1695) is born in 1629 in The Hague. He is the son of Constantijn Huygens, one of the most influential statesmen in the history of the Republic and a grand supporter of the arts and science. Christiaan becomes the most renowned mathematician and astronomer of his age (he is even more famous than Van Leeuwenhoek), while also grinds hundreds of optical lenses. Isaac Beeckman makes a sketch of a Drebbel microscope. René Descartes pioneers the use of exponents in mathematics by introducing the symbol a^3, contributing to the development of algebraic notation and mathematical notation as a whole. Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published, challenging traditional views on the cosmos and contributing to the scientific revolution.
HISTORY	1632 Cardinal Richelieu orders the construction of the Palais Royale in Paris, France Aug. 29, English philosopher John Locke is born in Somerset, England. The philosopher of liberalism influences the American founding fathers and is famous for his treatise "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding." Galileo Galilei is tried for heresy by the Roman Catholic Church, facing scrutiny for his support of the heliocentric model of the solar system, a pivotal moment in the history of science and religion. November 16, Battle of Lützen. This battle is one of the most decisive battles of the Thirty Years' War. It is a Protestant victory, but costs the life of one of the most important leaders of the Protestant alliance, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, which causes the Protestant campaign to lose direction. Christina becomes queen of Sweden. Yakutsk, Russia, is founded, becoming an important center for trade and exploration in the Siberian region. King Władysław IV Vasa of Poland forbids antisemitic books and printings. Rotterdam's population reaches 20,000. The city will become the world's largest seaport.

1633: Vermeer's Age, 1

VERMEER'S LIFE & ART	Reynier Jansz., the father of Johannes Vermeer, was involved in a legal hearing following a brawl among silk workers, including himself, while playing kolf (an early form of golf) on the ice. The altercation escalated when knives were drawn after heated exchanges, in line with the contemporary Dutch saying, "A hundred Hollanders, a hundred knives." Although the conflict initially calmed down, it flared up again, resulting in Cornelis Theunisz being repeatedly struck on the head. The legal documents suggest that Reynier and his companions attempted to moderate the violence. This incident paints a picture of Reynier Vermeer as a hardworking individual deeply committed to his family. His dedication is further highlighted by his willingness to make significant sacrifices to ensure his son Johannes received a proper education in painting, ultimately aiding in Johannes's development into a master painter. This commitment to family and craft underscores the industrious and supportive environment in which Johannes Vermeer was raised.
DUTCH PAINTING	Dec. 18, Willem van de Velde the Young (d. 1707), Dutch seascape painter, is baptized. He is the son of the marine artist Willem van de Velde the elder. Willem van de Velde the Younger and his father, Willem van de Velde the Elder, are reputed to have been at the Battle of Solebay, in their capacity as official naval artists. In the confusion of the battle neither would have been able to study the ship closely but nonetheless the battle is accurately portrayed. In 1673/4 the Van de Veldes move from Amsterdam to work in London, especially as "painters of sea fights" to Charles II. Their presence, and the flourishing studio established at the Queen's House in Greenwich, lays the foundations for the practice of marine painting in England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Pieter Lastman, Rembrandt van Rijn's master, dies. The son of a goldsmith, Pieter Lastman becomes known as one of the most important artists of his day for his ability to paint small cabinet pictures. At the age of nineteen, Lastman travels to Italy, where he spends five years. After he returns to his native Amsterdam, his painting style exhibits striking changes. He begins to use strong contrasts of light and shade that intensify the drama of the scene. He also begins to specialize in narrative subjects from the Bible, mythology and Roman history. Rembrandt paints The Storm on the Sea of Galile. Willem Drost, Dutch painter and printmaker is born.
EUROPEAN PAINTING & ARCHITECTURE	*Adoration of the Magi* Nicolas Poussin 1633 Port Scene with the Villa Medici Claude Lorrain 1637 Suring the 1630s, Nicolas Poussin becomes deeply engaged in antiquarian pursuits, immersing himself in the study of classical art and history. These interests profoundly influence his artistic style, leading him to create works characterized by classical themes and a meticulous attention to detail. Claude Lorrain, in the 1630s, discovers the distinctive landscape style that would define his career. His meticulous observation of nature and mastery of atmospheric effects would shape his serene and luminous landscapes, making him a key figure in the development of classical landscape painting. Davis Teniers the Younger joins the painters' guild in Antwerp.
MUSIC	Apr. 10,Werner Fabricius, a composer, is born, contributing to the musical landscape of his time with his compositions and creative contributions to Baroque music. Operatic composer Jacopo Peri dies at Florence August 12 at age 71, having pioneered the art form that will become the most popular theatrical entertainment in most of Europe.
LITERATURE	Rene Descartes wrote Le Monde which embodies an attempt to give a physical theory of the universe. But finding that its publication is likely to bring on him the hostility of the church, and having no desire to pose as a martyr, he abandons it: the incomplete manuscript is later published in 1664. He then devotes himself to composing a treatise on universal science which is published at Leiden in 1637 under the title Discours de la méthode pour bien conduire sa raison et chercher la vérité dans les sciences. Descartes may be considered the first of the modern school of mathematics.
SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY	Galileo Galilei goes on trial at Rome April 12 although he is suffering from arthritis, hernias, kidney stones, and gout. The Inquisition threatens the astronomer and mathematician with torture on the rack if he does not retract his "heretical" defense of the Copernican idea that the sun is the center of the universe and the Earth a movable planet. Torn between wanting to fight for the truth and not wanting to offend the Church, Galileo equivocates, saying that the heliocentric design "may very easily turn out to be a most foolish hallucination and a majestic paradox," but he does what is necessary to save himself, saying, "I, Galileo, son of the late Vincenzo Galilei, Florentine, aged 70 years, abjure, curse and detest the aforesaid errors and heresies, and I swear that I will never again say or assert that the sun is the center of the universe and immovable and that the Earth is not the center and moves." He is sent to his villa outside Florence, where he will be confined for the remaining 9 years of his life. René Descartes takes warning from the trial of Galileo Galilei. Now living in Holland, Descartes stops publishing in France. English astronomer and mathematician Henry Gellibrand (b. London, November 17, 1597, d. London, February 16, 1636) discovers that magnetic north (the direction to which a compass points) changes slowly.
HISTORY	Feb. 23, Samuel Pepys (d.1703), English diarist, is born. Pepys is an informal and spontaneous English diarist who left many interesting accounts of contemporary Netherlands. Oct. 14, James II Stuart, who would later become King of England and Scotland (as James VII), is born, eventually reigning from 1685 to 1688 during a period of political and religious turmoil in Britain. Dutch colonists from Nieuw Amsterdam establish a trading post on the Connecticut River, laying the foundation for the future city of Hartford and contributing to the early history of European settlement in North America. Dijon, France, imposes regulations on mustard makers, requiring, among other things, that mustard be made only by workers wearing "clean and modest clothes." Later rules will require that mustard be made only from brown or black mustard seeds and seasoned with wine or vinegar plus spices and herbs.

1634: Vermeer's Age, 2

VERMEER'S LIFE & ART	Vermeer's father is mentioned as Jansz Vos, tapster and caffaworker (silkworker) and living in "The Flying Fox," an inn in Delft that he had leased. The name of the inn is presumably taken from the name "Vos" which means fox.
DUTCH PAINTING	Saskia as Flora Rembrandt 1634 Nicholas Maes (d. 1693) is born in Dordrecht. Maes is an excellent genre painter who had studied with Rembrandt and is know to have briefly lived and worked in Delft in the years Vermeer was active. Rembrandt van Rijn marries the art dealer Hendrick's van Uylenburg wealthy niece Saskia van Uylenburg. A daughter of a patrician, she introduces Rembrandt in higher social circles, which makes his fame rise further. However, he never distances himself of common people. Saskia posed for many times for Rembrandt. Hendrick Avercamp, known particularly for his winter scenes, dies. He is deaf and dumb and known as "de Stomme van Kampen" (the mute of Kampen). His paintings are colorful and lively, with carefully observed skaters, tobogganers, golfers and pedestrians. Avercamp's work enjoys great popularity. He sells his drawings, many of which are tinted with watercolor, as finished pictures to be pasted into the collector's albums (an outstanding is in the collection of Windsor Castle). Cornelis Bisschop (d. 1674) is born. He attains some fame as a painter of trompe-l'œil pieces. Hendrick van der Neer (d. 1703) is born. He is best known for his elegant genre interiors. Jacob Ochtervelt (d. 1682) is born. He is a co-pupil of Pieter de Hooch under Nicolaas Bercham in Haarlem. He works in his native Rotterdam from about 1655 to 1674, and then moves to Amsterdam. He is influenced by Pieter de Hooch. Apart from a few portraits and some early hunting party and "merry company" scenes, his paintings are almost all elegant upper-class interiors, in which he showed off a skill in painting silks and satins to rival that of Gerrit ter Borch.
EUROPEAN PAINTING & ARCHITECTURE	*Helene Fourment* ("Het Pelsken") Rubens 1630s The Triumph of Divine Providence Pietro da Cortona Fresco 1633–1639 Luca Giordano (d.1705), Neapolitan baroque painter, is born. He is nicknamed "Luca Fa Presto" Luke work quickly) because of his prodigious speed of execution and huge output. French Baroque painter Nicolas Poussin begins work on his series of Seven Sacraments, completed in 1642. Poussin's rational classicism influenced pictorial classicism. Pietro da Cortona' works on the ceiling fresco in the Barberini Palace, Rome, a sculptural canopy with multitudes of foreshortened heavenly figures coursing through it. This enormous work establishes in a definitive manner the Baroque values.
MUSIC	The composer Heinrich Schütz publishes his collection of sacred madrigals, Symphoniae sacrae, which demonstrates his mastery of the early Baroque style. John Playford, an English music publisher, begins his career by publishing the first edition of The English Dancing Master, a collection of popular dance tunes that becomes influential in English folk music. Claudio Monteverdi, one of the pioneers of opera, composes and publishes his eighth book of madrigals, showcasing his evolving compositional style.
LITERATURE	John Milton, the English poet, begins composing his epic masterpiece Paradise Lost, a work that will become one of the most influential poems in the English language. The French playwright Pierre Corneille continues to make his mark on the world of theater with the production of Le Cid, a highly successful tragicomedy that solidifies his reputation as a leading dramatist of the time. The English writer Thomas Carew publishes his collection of poetry titled Poems, showcasing his lyrical and metaphysical style.
SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY	Mar. 13, Academie Francaise is established. Its task is to preserve the purity of the French language, which includes maintaining a dictionary. Members come to be known as the "immortals" and by 1998 they are struggling to with masculine nouns of positions held by women who desired feminine endings. Founding of University of Utrecht.
HISTORY	Mar. 25, Maryland is established in 1634 by English colonists dispatched by the second Lord Baltimore, George Calvert. This colony, with its unique policy of religious tolerance, provides a haven for Catholics and becomes a significant part of early American colonial history. Ligdan Khan (reigned 1604–1634), the last great Mongol leader, dies. After his death, the Mongols are subdued by the Manchu and become part of the Ch'ing (Manchu) dynasty of China. The United Provinces (Dutch Republic) and France form a strategic alliance against their common enemy, Spain, during the Eighty Years' War and the larger context of the Thirty Years' War. This alliance aims to strengthen their positions and counter Spanish dominance in European politics and warfare. It marks a crucial moment in the complex web of alliances and conflicts that characterized this tumultuous period in European history. Speculation in tulip bulbs reaches new heights in the Netherlands as steadily rising prices attract middle-class and even relatively poor families. One collector pays 1,000 pounds of cheese, four oxen, eight pigs, 12 sheep, a bed, and a suit of clothes for a single bulb of the rare Viceroy tulip. Most sought after are so-called "broken" bulbs whose blossom displays beautiful designs as the result of a virus. The tulip's attribute of variation has been discovered only recently by a professor of botany at the 59-year-old University of Leiden, whose botanical garden is the first in the north.

1635: Vermeer's Age, 3

VERMEER'S LIFE & ART	Nothing is known of Vermeer's life in this year. 1635–1636 The pestilence claims the lives of nearly 2,000 Delft inhabitants.
DUTCH PAINTING	Apr. 16, Frans van Mieris (d. 1681), the Elder, Dutch painter, is born. Van Mieris paints finely detailed genre interiors and is believed to have influenced Vermeer's work in theme and technique. Caspar Netscher, (d. 1684) is born. He paints a number of genre subjects in his earlier years spent in The Hague as well as some history subjects and pastorals, but from c.1670 he concentrates on portraiture, a practice which earns him a considerable fortune. He is said to decline an invitation from Charles II to come to England. He dies at The Hague on 15 January, 1684. Rembrandt van Rijn paints Self-Portrait with Saskia. Gerrit ter Borch, who would become one of the most refined interior genre painters of the time and whose painting technique and themes would also influence the young Vermeer, is admitted to the painter's guild in Haarlem. C. 1635 there is a great demand for Rembrandt's religious and historical paintings.
EUROPEAN PAINTING & ARCHITECTURE	*Bust of Costanza Bonarelli* Gian Lorenzo Bernini 1630s Charles I: King of England Sir Anthony Van Dyck c. 1635 Anthony Van Dyck, outstanding student of Rubens working for the English court, paints his outdoor, leisurely Portrait of Charles I Hunting. The work greatly influences aristocratic portraiture. Nicolas Poussin paints Kingdom of Flora. Diego Velázquez paints Surrender of Breda, also known as The Lances, depicting a key moment in the Eighty Years' War when the Dutch city of Breda surrendered to the Spanish forces. The renowned Flemish artist Pieter Paul Rubens acquires the grand country estate known as Het Steen, situated in the picturesque countryside near Brussels. This estate not only serves as a peaceful retreat for Rubens but also becomes a source of inspiration for some of his landscape paintings, reflecting his deep appreciation for the beauty of the natural world. Jacques Callot dies of a painful stomach ailment at Nancy on March 24 at age 42.
MUSIC	Sept. 7, Pal Esterhazy, composer, is born. Frescobaldi composes Fiori musicali di toccate, which influences J.S. Bach.
LITERATURE	The Académie Française is established in Paris with the mission of standardizing grammar, usage, and purifying the French language by setting linguistic norms and rules, playing a pivotal role in the development of the French language and literature.
SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY	The French philosopher René Descartes published his work Discourse on the Method (Discours de la méthode), which laid the foundation for modern philosophy and introduced his famous phrase "Cogito, ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am). This work had a profound influence on the development of epistemology and rationalism.
HISTORY	The world's first free medical clinic for the poor opens at Paris under the direction of physician-journalist Théophraste Rénaudot,

1636: Vermeer's Age, 4

VERMEER'S LIFE & ART	Nothing is known of Vermeer's life in this year.
DUTCH PAINTING	Salome Presented with the Head of St John the Baptist Leonaert Bramer late 1630s Leonaert Bramer, active in Delft, is believed to be Vermeer's master. He is an acquaintance of Vermeer's family and was present at Vermeer's marriage in 1653. Bramer had been to Italy. Dutch still life painter Jan Davidsz de Heem, 30, moves to Antwerp because "there one could have rare fruits of all kinds, large plums, peaches, cherries, oranges, lemons, grapes and others, in finer condition and state of ripeness to draw from life."
EUROPEAN PAINTING & ARCHITECTURE	*Prince Baltasar Carlos on Horseback* Diego Velázquez 1635–1636 Nicolas Poussin completes The Rape of the Sabines, a masterpiece that demonstrates his command of classical themes and meticulous attention to detail. This painting, characterized by its harmonious composition and dramatic narrative, marks a pivotal moment in Poussin's career as he solidifies his reputation as a leading artist of the Baroque era.
MUSIC	French theorist Marin Mersenne publishes his most important work, Harmonie Universille, with full descriptions of all contemporary musical instruments.
LITERATURE	Pierre Corneille writes Le Cid. Educated by the Jesuits, he studies law and then enters the Rouen parliament in 1629. He would serve as the king's counselor in the local office of the department of waterways and forests for 21 years, and remarkably, he still finds the time to write 20 plays during this period. After his retirement from the legal profession, he writes 12 more. Although Corneille is considered by most critics to be the father of French tragedy, six of his first eight plays are comedies. The *Comic Illusion* (L'illusion comique) by Pierre Corneille is given in January at the Théâtre du Marais, Paris.
SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY	In the Dioptrique, Descartes publishes "Dioptrique," in which he describes the construction of single microscopes, contributing to the advancement of optics and the study of small-scale phenomena. This work showcases Descartes' interest in the scientific method and his pioneering contributions to various fields of science.
HISTORY	Mar. 26, University of Utrecht holds its opening ceremony Welsh Puritan Roger Williams (1603–1683) is banished from Massachusetts. He establishes Providence, R.I. and proclaims complete religious freedom. Harvard College (so called from 1639 in tribute to John Harvard, who endowed it by a legacy) is founded at Newe Towne, Cambridge, Mass.with Nathaniel Eaton as its first president. The Dutch West India Company forces arrive in the Caribbean and successfully occupy the island of Aruba, marking another expansion of Dutch colonial presence in the Americas. This strategic move allows the Dutch to strengthen their control over valuable trade routes and resources in the region, contributing to their colonial influence during this period. Dutch colonists establish the town of Haarlem on Manhattan Island, marking a significant development in the early history of Dutch settlement in North America. This colonial outpost would eventually contribute to the growth and development of what would become New York City, a hub of commerce and cultural exchange in the New World. The University of Utrecht has its beginnings in a school opened in the Dutch city. It will become a great center of European learning. A Dutch planter introduces sugar cane from Brazil into the West Indian island of Barbados, whose English settlers have been cultivating cotton, ginger, indigo and tobacco for export while growing beans, plantains and other food for their own consumption. Sugar will become the chief crop of Barbados and of all the Caribbean islands. Dutch merchant serves a sailor a small breakfast of herring; while his back is turned, the sailor by some accounts spies what he thinks is an onion, he eats it in a few quick gulps, and the merchant finds that he has lost a tulip bulb so valuable that its sale would have yielded enough money to outfit and man a substantial ship.

1637: Vermeer's Age, 5

VERMEER'S LIFE & ART	Nothing is known of Vermeer's life in this year.
DUTCH PAINTING	Still Life Willem Claesz. Heda Willem Claesz. Heda, Dutch still life painter, is active in Haarlem. He and Pieter Claez are the most important representatives of "ontbijt" (breakfast piece) painting in the Netherlands. His overall gray-green or brownish tonalities are very similar to those of Claesz., but Heda's work is usually more highly finished and his taste more aristocratic. Jan van der Heyden is born. After 1668 he is increasingly concerned with improvements to street lighting and fire-fighting equipment; in 1672 he constructs the first fire-engine (publishing a book on the subject in 1690) and he seems to paint only infrequently after c. 1680. He dies in Amsterdam on 28 March, 1712. Known chiefly for his accomplished townscapes, he also painted landscapes and, in later life, some still lifes.
EUROPEAN PAINTING & ARCHITECTURE
MUSIC	Dietrich Buxtehude (d.1701), Danish composer, is born. Buxtehude belongs to the generation of organists before Johann Sebastian Bach, who, like Handel, once traveled to Lübeck to hear the master perform at the Marienkirche, where he serves as organist for forty years, from 1667 until his death in 1707. He writes a considerable quantity of music, choral and instrumental, for church use, as well as chamber music and keyboard music of a more secular kind.
LITERATURE
SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY	Daniel Sennert, a prominent German scientist who formulated the conception of the "atom," passes away. His contributions to early chemistry and the understanding of the fundamental building blocks of matter would influence the development of atomic theory in the centuries to come. The States Bible is first published. A Dutch-language translation of the original Greek and Hebrew texts, this edition of the Bible is intended to allow ordinary citizens to study religion without reliance on clerics. The creation of the States Bible reflects the importance of Calvinism in the Netherlands.
HISTORY	The Dutch Republic experienced the economic bubble known as "Tulip Mania," where the speculative trading of tulip bulbs reached an extreme, leading to a financial crash. The Shimabara Rebellion, a Christian uprising against the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan, began in 1637 and lasted until 1638. It resulted in a harsh suppression of Christianity in Japan. In New England, the Pequot War erupted between English colonists and the Pequot tribe. The conflict ended with a massacre of Pequot men, women, and children at Mystic River in 1637. The University of Harvard, the oldest institution of higher education in the United States, was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1638: Vermeer's Age, 6

VERMEER'S LIFE & ART	Nothing is known of Vermeer's life in this year.
DUTCH PAINTING	*Claes Duyst van Voorhout* Frans Hals c. 1638 Meindert Hobbema, Dutch painter. is born. He paints landscapes, one of the most famous being The Avenue. It is common for seventeenth-century Dutch painters to hold down held moneymaking jobs apart from their true profession. After his new wife's influence wins Hobbema a job as a wine guager, painting seems to become a part-time occupation. He checks the weights and measures of imported wines for more than forty years and has little success as a painter. The couple is buried as paupers. Adriaen Brouwer dies. Brouwer specializes in tavern and low-life scenes, works in Haarlem and Amsterdam and spends the last seven or eight years of his brief life in Antwerp. Rubens has 17 of his paintings in his private collection. Brouwer, somewhat a so-called "painters' painter," is also collected by Rembrandt van Rijn. Hercules Segers, dies. Segers's etchings are remarkable for their experimental use of color and innovative combinations of techniques.
EUROPEAN PAINTING & ARCHITECTURE	Nicolas Poussin paints Et in Arcadia ego. Pieter Paul Rubens paints The Three Graces. Francesco Borromini begins working on the architectural masterpiece of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, a church known for its innovative and complex Baroque design. This project showcases Borromini's creative genius and his significant impact on the architectural landscape of Rome during the 17th century.
MUSIC	Monteverdi composes the madrigal Il Combattimento de Tanncredi e Corinda. Monteverdi composes Eight Book of Madrigals. Venice's Teatro di San Cassiano opens early in the year to give the city its first opera house with seats for the general public. The Tron family finances the house will lead to other such venues making opera available to virtually everyone where rather than only for royalty and the nobility.
LITERATURE
SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY	Galileo Galilei, facing censorship by the Roman Catholic Church, smuggles his groundbreaking work Two New Sciences to a publisher in Holland. This daring act allows his scientific insights on the principles of mechanics and strength of materials to reach a wider audience and continue to influence the progress of science in Europe. Joost van den Vondel writes Gijsbrecht van Amstel, a historical drama that becomes one of his most celebrated works. This play, set in the context of medieval Amsterdam, highlights Vondel's talent for dramatic storytelling and his influence on Dutch literature during the Golden Age. Discours de la Mèthode by René Descartes lays the foundation for mathematical geometry, reducing everything to numbers and establishing the "Cartesian" principle of basing metaphysical demonstrations on mathematical certitude rather than on scholastic subtleties. The proper guide to reason, says Descartes, is to doubt everything systematically until one arrives at clear, simple ideas that are beyond doubt. He rejects any doubt of his own existence by saying, "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"). A permanent astronomical observatory is established at Copenhagen by King Christian IV of Denmark. Pierre de Fermat is thought to have written in the margin of a copy of the Arithmetica of Diophantus that an equation of the form a + b = c can have no integral solutions for a, b and c if n is greater than 2. His note continues, "I have found a truly marvelous demonstration which this margin is too narrow to contain." The statement has since come to be called Fermat's last theorem.
HISTORY	Sept. 5, Louis XIV, "The Sun King" (1643–1715) of France, is born. He will build the palace at Versailles and rule France from 1643 to 1715. The Dutch West India Company dismisses its New Netherland director general Wouter van Twiller and replaces him with Willem Kieft. Van Twiller has the public prosecutor Lubertus van Dincklagen fired and sent him back to Amsterdam without giving him the 3 years' pay that was owed to him. Van Dincklagen complains to the Company about the director general's corruption, the Company sends him back to New Netherland as assistant director, and it will take back much of the land that van Twiller has acquired. Van Twiller remains in New Netherland, where he enjoys his status as the richest citizen. Dutch tulip prices multiply 20-fold in January, with transactions taking place not on any organized exchange but through tavern betting pools as well. Government authorities float a proposal that would allow a buyer to avoid early execution of certain contracts by paying 10 percent of the sales price to the seller. New supplies of bulbs flood the market, doubts arise that prices will continue to rise, and prices collapse on the first Tuesday of February after years of speculation. Hundreds who have been caught up in the "tulipmania" (tulpenwoede) are ruined as the bottom falls out of the market, and prices fall to a few cents per bulb, their intrinsic value, down from the equivalent of thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars. Courts do not consider the bets to be legal contracts and refuse to enforce them. But the end of the tulip "bubble" does not produce any economic downturn or slowdown: money that should have been spent on more productive purposes has gone into speculation on tulip bulbs, so the end of tulipmania ultimately has a salutary effect on the Dutch economy.

1639: Vermeer's Age, 7

VERMEER'S LIFE & ART	Nothing is known of Vermeer's life in this year.
DUTCH PAINTING	In 1639, Rembrandt van Rijn and Saskia van Uylenburg move to a prominent house in the Jodenbreestraat, in the Jewish quarter (which later is turned into the Rembrandt House Museum). Three of their children die shortly after birth. In 1641 they again have a child, a son, whom they call Titus (1641–1668). Saskia dies soon after.
EUROPEAN PAINTING & ARCHITECTURE	The Dwarf Don Juan Calabazas Diego Velázquez c. 1639 Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist Guido Reni 1639–1640 The Italian painter Orazio Gentileschi passes away. His artistic legacy, characterized by his contributions to the Baroque style and his association with the Caravaggisti, continues to influence the world of art during the 17th century.
MUSIC	Marco Marazzoli and Vergilio Mazzochi write Chi soffre, speri, first comic opera. Monteverdi's opera Adone is performed at the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice, marking a significant contribution to the development of opera as a musical form during the Baroque era.
LITERATURE	Racine, French dramatist, is born. By 1677, Racine achieves a remarkable success for a playwright. In fact he is the first French playwright to live almost entirely off the earnings from his work..
SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY	Jeremiah Horrocks observes the transit of Venus, which he had predicted Descartes publishes his Discourse on Method. It is here that his famous statement "I think; therefore I am," is expounded. He then proceeds to discover a method of achieving similar certainty in other realms, based on the reduction of all problems to a mathematical form and solution. He invents analytic geometry in order to reduce the description of phenomena to a set of numbers. His Discourse is placed on the Index of forbidden books by Catholic theologians.
HISTORY	Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp after an engraving by Jan Lievensz. 1598–1653 Feb. 7, The Académie Française initiates the ambitious project of creating the Dictionary of the French Language, which will become a cornerstone in the standardization and development of the French language. This endeavor reflects the institution's dedication to preserving and codifying the linguistic heritage of France. Dutch Admiral Tromp achieves a remarkable victory by defeating the Spanish with a significantly weaker Dutch fleet at the Battle of the Downs. This naval triumph solidifies the Dutch Republic's position as a maritime power during the 17th century. Tromp's legacy is honored with his burial in the Oude Kerk (The Old Church) Delft, where Vermeer will be also be buried.