Not much is known about Johannes Vermeer’s famous 'Little Street'. The exact location of this Delft townscape has been occupying art historians, archaeologists, and others for years. Did Vermeer picture his own house, or perhaps the view from it? Do the buildings he painted still exist? Or did he, at least in part, invent this wonderful, poignant composition? Art historian Frans Grijzenhout happened upon a source never before tapped for this purpose and was able to identify the site of this unique spot with its two adjacent passageways. This discovery sheds an entirely new light on Vermeer’s life and work, and on the harsh world of the people who lived in that little street – the painter’s kinsfolk – in the shadow of the Golden Age.

Not much is known about Johannes Vermeer’s famous 'Little Street'. The exact location of this Delft townscape has been occupying art historians, archaeologists, and others for years. Did Vermeer picture his own house, or perhaps the view from it? Do the buildings he painted still exist? Or did he, at least in part, invent this wonderful, poignant composition? Art historian Frans Grijzenhout happened upon a source never before tapped for this purpose and was able to identify the site of this unique spot with its two adjacent passageways. This discovery sheds an entirely new light on Vermeer’s life and work, and on the harsh world of the people who lived in that little street – the painter’s kinsfolk – in the shadow of the Golden Age.