Johannes Vermeer was born in Delft in 1632. He was a Dutch painter in the Golden Age.

Vermeer preferred timeless, subdued moments. He remains enigmatic in his scenes because of the inimitable color scheme and the bewildering light content. Vermeer's paintings, mostly genre pieces and a few history pieces, allegories and cityscapes, are distinguished by a subtle use of color and an ideal composition. He sometimes used expensive pigments and had a strong preference for ultramarine and tin yellow. Vermeer's oeuvre is relatively modest compared to that of his contemporaries, with 36-37 surviving paintings.

His most famous works include The Milkmaid, View of Delft and The Girl with a Pearl Earring.