Title: The Art of Painting
Description: The Art of Painting, also known as The Allegory of Painting, or Painter in his Studio, is a 17th-century oil on canvas painting by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. Many art historians believe that it is an allegory of painting, hence the alternative title of the painting. After Vermeer's Christ in the House of Martha and Mary it is the largest work by the master. Its composition and iconography also make it the most complex Vermeer work of all. This illusionistic painting is one of Vermeer's most famous. Svetlana Alpers describes it as unique and ambitious. Walter Liedtke describes it "as a virtuoso display of the artist's power of invention and execution, staged in an imaginary version of his studio ..." According to Albert Blankert "No other painting so flawlessly integrates naturalistic technique, brightly illuminated space, and a complexly integrated composition." The painting is owned by the Austrian Republic and is on display in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Author(s): Johannes Vermeer