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The transformation from a history painter to a genre painter seems not to have been easy for Vermeer. Nothing in his early works prepared him for the complex problem of orienting a figure within a realistic architectural space or depicting naturalistic light effects. Textures of materials had not been of great concern. Finally, Vermeer had to find a solution for the most vexing problem that he posed for himself: how to convey the melancholic moods of his history paintings in scenes drawn from daily life. Evidence within A Woman Asleep, Vermeer's earliest representation of a scene from contemporary life, suggests that he sought inspiration from the works of two former Rembrandt pupils, Nicolaes Maes and Carel Fabritius.
Excerpt taken from
Vermeer and The Art of Painting
by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr |
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