12 Interesting Facts About Delft, Delft, Netherlands

Most visitors check Delft out on a Keukenhof day trip, spending only a few hours in the city. Shame! Lovely Delft has a lot to offer beyond its Market Square, Vermeer Centrum and must-visit Royal Delft earthenware factory. Dive into the city, the cradle of today’s Netherlands, to explore this 17th-century postcard a stone’s throw away from Rotterdam and The Hague.

To appreciate it better, here are 10 fun and interesting facts about Delft that you probably did not know about…

Today, Vermeer is remembered for his beautifully lit intimate scenes of daily life in Dutch bourgeois interiors. The View of Delft (1660) and The Girl with a Pearl Earring are his most famous paintings that even inspired Hollywood movie makers. Delft was his decor, and the light, his muse: bright, filtered, reflected, soft, hard, shining, smooth… He could render it as no one had ever done before.

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) was born in Delft during the Dutch Golden Age and spent all his life in the city. He grew up there, lived there and had his workshop there. The city was his favourite decor. However, there is nothing left of Vermeer in Delft: the paintings of the famous but broke master were auctioned off after his death. Out of an estimated 50 paintings (Vermeer worked slowly), 37 have remained and are now scattered around the world from Le Louvre to the Rijksmuseum and the Frick Collection. His father’s inn, The Flying Fox and Mechelen, where many artists met and where the young Johannes probably educated himself (nothing is known about who his master was) is gone. Vermeer’s house was destroyed. No writings were left by him. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).