Very little is known about Johannes Vermeer; there is no proper
picture or self portrait of this artist.
Johannes Vermeer was born in Delft, a little town known for blue and white earthenware.
Vermeer became an apprentice for six years. Chevalier uses this personality of Vermeer in the novel Girl With a Pearl Earring
and shows this through Griet's father and brother as well as his interactions with Griet and other characters. Through Vermeer's
art style in his works, he mostly uses yellows and blues to present a calm scene.
Vermeer was a Catholic in a town where only 20% of the people living there were Catholic,
the rest Protestant. Catholics at the time were forced to worship privately, thus, Vermeer resided in his mother-in-law's
house which was located right next to a hidden church.
