Shop art print and framed art The Astronomer by Johannes Vermeer

The Astronomer (De astronoom), or The Astrologer, is a painting by Johannes Vermeer (oil on canvas, 51 × 45 cm), painted around 1668 and now in the Musée du Louvre. The painting is one of only four by Vermeer, along with The Entremetteuse (1656) and The Geographer (1669), to bear a date - excluding the highly controversial Saint Praxedes (1655). The painting on the armoire reads "MDCLXVIII", i.e. 1668. After some doubts had been cast on the date, notably because of the irregular pattern of the letters, and the existence of an engraving of the painting, made in 1674, which reproduced it very exactly but made no mention of this spot, the date was finally authenticated in 1997 by scientific analysis. The painting also bears the painter's signature above it. The frame in which it is currently displayed at the Musée du Louvre, with its wide edges veneered in red wood and surrounded by black rods, is of Dutch origin, and contemporary with Vermeer. In the corner of a room with a double window (the one on the left is cut off by the frame of the painting), depicting an astronomer's study, a man with long hair tied back behind his ears, wearing a loose blue "Japanese" silk dressing gown (In the Light of Vermeer), turns away for a moment from the book he has opened in front of him and rises from his chair to consult a celestial globe, which he turns with his fingertips while holding out his open right hand. His left hand is resting on the edge of the table, covered by a heavy blue [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the baroque style.

 

« The Astronomer » is kept at Louvre, Paris, France.

 

Find the full description of The Astronomer by Johannes Vermeer on Wikipedia.