Johannes Vermeer: Painter or Rebel?

It has always been muttered that playing the guitar is the work of the devil or, more famously, that rock and roll is the devil’s music.

During the Dutch Golden Age, the former was avidly believed. Whilst there were numerous superstitions bandied around during the 17th century, this one is particularly interesting as there is a wealth of Dutch guitar music and paintings of guitar playing to come from this era.

The Guitar Player, c. 1672.
Oil on canvas, 53 x 46.3 cm.
The Iveagh Bequest (Kenwood).
Courtesy of English Heritage.

In a society where superstition could cost a person their life (witch trials in the Netherlands in the 17th century were a common occurrence, the largest of which was the Roermond witch trial leading to the deaths of 64 people), pursuing or documenting an activity which was linked to the devil was a dangerous thing indeed. While music may just be music, and the guitar just a guitar, might it be said that Johannes Vermeer, in his depiction of The Guitar Player, was actually a true rebel of the Dutch Golden Age? If superstition was still as rife in 1673 as 1613 (the year of the Roermond witch trial) then, yes. Portraying an act considered to be of the devil may have been the 17th-century equivalent of David Bowie’s controversial “The Next Day” music video!

However, 60 years is a long time. It is possible that Vermeer, in this painting, was merely completing a portrait, that he simply liked music, or even that he was poking fun at a superstition which no longer held a place in society. But isn’t it more fun thinking of the great Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer as an artistic rebel harbouring an agenda to shock society?

Whether you think of Vermeer as a classical Dutch painter or a slightly more risqué artist with a bone to pick with society, you can find all you need to know about Vermeer and music at London’s National Gallery. Currently hosting the exhibition Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure, which will be running until September 8th, this is an unparalleled opportunity to get to grips with a multisensory display. To further pique your interest, check out Johannes Vermeer by Jp. A. Calosse.

- Fiona Torsch

Heaven, Hell and Dying Well

The Christian Church of the Middle Ages was the most important institution of the time, holding an unyielding power over what the general population thought and believed. More often than not, art of the period venerates Jesus in all of His glory, placing him at the centre on a throne, judging who shall pass through the gates of Heaven and who will be banished to eternal damnation. These images gave strength to the many believers while terrifying some skeptics towards belief.


Take Fra Angelico’s The Last Judgement (1425-1430) for example (above). Christ sits in judgement on a white throne surrounded by John, Mary, the saints, and angels, his right hand pointing towards Heaven, while his left indicates Hell. On his right is paradise, a beautiful garden leading to a city on a hill; angels lead the saved to meet their loved ones. To Christ’s left, we see demons forcing the damned back into Hell to take their place for eternal torment. At the very bottom, Satan gets his fill of three sinners while two others wait in his grips.

Once considered terrifying, today these images are subjects of ridicule and disbelief. The length to which believers went to assure their salvation in a place that will more likely than not turn out to be imaginary and intended to ease the fear of death, is simply laughable. Do you believe in God the Almighty and His Son that died for your sins? Should we, in fact, sin more in order to be sure that He died for the right reasons?

See more religiously charged images in Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well: Images of Death in the Middle Ages at The J. Paul Getty Museum, exhibiting until the 12^th August 2012. Furthermore, bring these images home with Art of the Devil, a high-quality art ebook full of detailed images of life after death, stemming from the artists' deepest fears.