If you are one of the thousands who've taken pictures of themselves outside Vermeer's front door in Delft, the Netherlands, you may want to book a ticket for another visit, now that experts have decided he actually lived next door to the house that's been noted since 1968 as his historic address.
It's the fifth different address that has been touted as the correct one, since houses in Delft in his time were not numbered and some streets were not named, so descriptions based on what was nearby were common.
The house with the red shades, at Oude Langendijk 25, is now said to be the correct address after research in official documents for clues as to which corner the house was on and the number of fireplaces it had, as well as the place where Vermeer’s wife used to hang up the washing on sticks.
Attempts to reach the current owner of the house have met with frustration; the red blinds have been down for years, and attempts to reach the owner, including repeated knocking on the door, have produced no response. The director of the Vermeer Foundation has concluded that ‘It’s either empty or home to a recluse."
Comments (0)