Johannes Vermeer's Bookshelf

Essential visual and technical resources that informed Vermeer's artistic methods and compositional precision.

Atlas maior

Joan Blaeu · 1659

Amazon

Iconologia

Cesare Ripa · 1603

Amazon

Camera obscura

Günter Kunert · 1978

Amazon

Religious texts reflecting the spiritual foundation underlying Vermeer's contemplative domestic scenes.

The Bible (King James Version)

The Bible (King James Version)

Various

Amazon

The Confessions of St. Augustine / The Imitation of Christ

Augustine of Hippo · 1909

Amazon

Popular Dutch literature that shaped the cultural context of virtue and domesticity in Vermeer's era.

Emblemata

Jacob Cats · 1622

Bookshop Amazon

Biographies, critical studies, and retrospectives.

• Biography
  Vermeer. The Complete Works Karl Schütz · 2018
  Bookshop Amazon
• Retrospective
  Eye of the beholder Laura J. Snyder · 2015
  Amazon
• Retrospective
  Vermeer (Art & Ideas) Wayne Franits · 2015
  Bookshop Amazon
• Retrospective
  Vermeer's hat Timothy Brook · 2009
  Amazon
• Retrospective
  Vermeer (Prestel Minis) Christopher Wynne · 2005
  Amazon
• Biography
  Johannes Vermeer Mike Venezia · 2002
  Amazon
• Biography
  Girl with a Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier · 1999
  Amazon
• Biography
  The Essential Abrams · 1998
  Amazon
• Retrospective
  The music lesson Katharine Weber · 1998
  Amazon
• Biography
  Vermeer Albert Blankert · 1981
  Amazon
• Biography
  Jan Vermeer Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. · 1981
  Amazon
• Retrospective
  Vermeer and His Milieu John Michael Montias · 2018
  Amazon
• Critical Study
  Vermeer's family secrets Benjamin Binstock · 2008
  Amazon
• Retrospective
  Vermeer Poster Book (Posterbooks) Taschen Publishing · 1995
  Amazon
• Retrospective
  Vermeer. Unknown · 1965
  Amazon