Jan Vermeer van Delft, also known as Johannes Vermeer (baptised 31 October 1632 in Delft; † 15 December 1675 in Delft; contemporary Joannis ver Meer, Joannis van der Meer), is one of the most famous Dutch painters of the Baroque period.
He worked in the era of the Dutch Golden Age, during which the country experienced a period of political, economic and cultural prosperity.
The scope of Jan Vermeer's complete works is very small, with only 37 paintings known today, although further titles have survived from old auction records. Vermeer's first works were history paintings, but he became known for his genre scenes, which make up a large part of his work. The best-known works through today's reception are The View of Delft and The Girl with the Pearl Earrings. Due to the small number of known paintings, in the 19th century, paintings by other artists were wrongly attributed to him. Today, however, his body of work is generally accepted by researchers.