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The many compositional and thematic relationships between The Geographer and The Astronomer indicate that Vermeer conceived these works as pendants. One senses in the scholars' purposeful expressions as they lean forward, with one hand firmly grasping a solid support, the excitement of intellectual inquiry as their inquisitive minds actively search for answers to questions they have posed about the earth and the stars.
The inquiries of the geographer-the study of the earth-and the astronomer-the study of the stars-concerned two closely allied scientific realms, both of which were of great practical use in navigation, a concern important to the Dutch. Vermeer emphasized the interrelatedness of the paintings by depicted terrestrial and celestial globes that the mapmaker Jodocus Hondius published as a pair in 1618.
Excerpt taken from
Vermeer: The Complete Works
by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr |
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