Johannes Vermeer paints a luminous imaginary portrait in Delft, a high point of Dutch Golden Age painting, made for a merchant society that bought art for the home.
Contested history
Consensus: Vermeer's paintings show optical effects associated with the camera obscura, but how, or whether, he used one is unresolved.
Vermeer studied effects seen in a camera obscuraDebated
Blurred highlights and out-of-focus areas in his work resemble lens effects, and the device was known in Delft, but no document records his use of one.
Vermeer traced projected images with an optical deviceMinority view
Proposed by David Hockney and later by Tim Jenison's experiments; most art historians see no conclusive evidence of tracing.