The Little Street

A rare outdoor scene by Vermeer, c.1657-1658. A quiet row of brick houses in Delft (identified as Vlamingstraat in 2015). A woman does needlework in a doorway, two children kneel at play. The buildings themselves — weathered brick, whitewashed walls, patched shutters — are the true protagonists.

One of only three Vermeer paintings depicting outdoor Delft. Where View of Delft is grand, this is intimate and particular, recording everyday life with still-life intensity. Vermeer appears to have used a palette knife for the brickwork.

Signed "I V MEER." At the Rijksmuseum since 1921. In its attention to the unremarkable, it anticipates Realism and photography by two centuries.