Art-Vermeer-The Geographer TB

This trackable is unusual for its longevity. In the five-year period, 2010-14, the owner released a total of 1710 trackables in the United States (96%) and Europe (4%). This trackable is one of the 5% of the total that circulated for at least 5 years and had been moved at least 25 times.  That is a rate of at least five drops per year for five years.  As of 18-Apr-20, this particular trackable had survived for 5.6 years and had been moved by 25 cachers. How far can it get?  Keep it moving!

No permission is needed to leave the U.S.  While in the U.S., please drop it in a Premium Member only OR a rural cache near a busy trail or road. Do not place it in an urban cache or abandon it at a caching event where there is no security.  Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; the bag keeps the trackable clean, protects the number and prevents tangling with other items.  Otherwise, take the trackable anywhere you wish.

Trackable photos are appreciated and will be re-posted here.

This is one of a series of travel bugs made to recognize paintings seen, and admired by the bug owner.  A digital copy of this painting was downloaded from the internet.  The copy was reduced in size and proportions cropped to accommodate the laminating materials available to the owner. Regrettably these processes diminish the effort of the artist.  One truly must see the original in person to fully appreciate the work.   The text below is a mixture of my own observations and material gleaned from the internet (mostly Wikipedia and Web Gallery).

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) was a painter during the Dutch Golden Age, the 17^thcentury.  Prior to this time most patrons of the arts were the church and royalty who largely wanted portraits and paintings with religious or allegorical themes.  After the Renaissance, northern Europe became a center of commerce and the middle classes prospered to the point that they wanted art to decorate their homes.  And, they had broader tastes is subject matter than institutional patrons.  To satisfy the demand, the Dutch and Flemish regions developed an amazing number of artists.  Portraiture and religious topics were still important, but landscape, seascape, cityscape, still life and commemorative paintings began to appear.  However, another kind of subject matter really flourished at this time, genre paintings.  These were scenes from everyday life, depicting people from all classes.  One of Vermeer’s early paintings (The Procuress) depicts a client negotiating with a madam for time with a prostitute.

This picture is believed to have been a companion piece to the The Astronomer, also by Vermeer. Both paintings, with their interiors of scholarly studios and scientific paraphernalia, provide an opportunity for lightening effects that envelop the scientists. One must also remember that science of the time, without any religious context, was new.  But, the items portrayed had mystique to the average viewer of the time.  Both paintings show the same male figure, but dressed differently.  It has been suggested that the man shown is the scientist and inventor of the microscope, Leeuwenhoek, because after Vermeer's death, Leeuwenhoek was the executor of Vermeer's estate.  Both men are buried in the Old Church in Delft.  The companion paintings have been separated for many years.  This one was studied in the Louvre, in Paris, while the Astronomer (yet unseen by the writer) is in the Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt.