Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the lost techniques of the Old Masters by David Hockney |
by Arthur K. Wheelock
|
Vermeer's Hat: The seventeenth century and the dawn of the global world by Timothy Brook |
by Frank Wynne
|
by Martin Bailey
|
See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.
|
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Philip Steadman's remarkable book, Vermeer's Camera, cracks an artistic enigma that has haunted art history for centuries. Over the years artists and art historians have marvelled at the extraordinary visual realism of the paintings of the 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. The painter's spectacular View of Delft, painted around 1661, and the beautiful domestic interior The Music Lesson seem almost photographic in their incredible detail and precise perspective. Since the 19th century, experts have speculated that Vermeer used a camera obscura, an early precursor of the modern camera. However, conclusive proof was never discovered, until now. In Vermeer's Camera, Philip Steadman conclusively proves that Vermeer did indeed use a camera obscura to complete his greatest canvases. Part art historical study, part scientific argument, but mainly a fascinating detective story, Vermeer's Camera argues that Vermeer had a camera obscura with a lens at the painting's viewpoint. He used this arrangement to project the scene onto the back wall of the room, which thus served as the camera's screen. He put paper on the wall and traced, perhaps even painted from the projected image. It is because Vermeer traced these images that they are the same size as the paintings themselves. Steadman painstakingly develops his argument through careful study of the history of the camera obscura, an exploration of 17th-century optics, and a detailed study of the light, optics, perspective and measurement of a series of Vermeer's paintings. He goes to remarkable lengths to reconstruct Vermeer's studio and its furnishings, down to the angle of the light from its windows.
Philip Steadman's remarkable book, Vermeer's Camera, cracks an artistic enigma that has haunted art history for centuries. Over the years artists and art historians have marvelled at the extraordinary visual realism of the paintings of the 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. The painter's spectacular View of Delft, painted around 1661, and the beautiful domestic interior The Music Lesson seem almost photographic in their incredible detail and precise perspective. Since the 19th century, experts have speculated that Vermeer used a camera obscura, an early precursor of the modern camera. However, conclusive proof was never discovered, until now. In Vermeer's Camera, Philip Steadman conclusively proves that Vermeer did indeed use a camera obscura to complete his greatest canvases. Part art historical study, part scientific argument, but mainly a fascinating detective story, Vermeer's Camera argues that Vermeer had a camera obscura with a lens at the painting's viewpoint. He used this arrangement to project the scene onto the back wall of the room, which thus served as the camera's screen. He put paper on the wall and traced, perhaps even painted from the projected image. It is because Vermeer traced these images that they are the same size as the paintings themselves. Steadman painstakingly develops his argument through careful study of the history of the camera obscura, an exploration of 17th-century optics, and a detailed study of the light, optics, perspective and measurement of a series of Vermeer's paintings. He goes to remarkable lengths to reconstruct Vermeer's studio and its furnishings, down to the angle of the light from its windows.
The science is complex, but always clearly explained. Nor is this an attempt to reveal Vermeer as an artistic "cheat". Steadman convincingly argues that "Vermeer's obsessions with light, tonal values, shadow, and colour, for the treatment of which his work is so admired, are very closely bound up with his study of the special qualities of optical images". Vermeer's Camera is a wonderful book, that shows the ways in which, during the 17th century, art and science went hand in hand. It offers an enlarged, rather than reduced perspective on Vermeer. --Jerry Brotton
Review
"Vivid and impressive.... An experience that is closer to how we absorb the painter's intense, spooky, and perfectionistic work.... It's only in Steadman's presentation that I felt I came close to Vermeer himself."--Sanford Schwartz, The New York Review of Books
See all Product Description
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
If a small hole is made in the wall of a darkened room, an image of the scene outside can be formed by light rays passing through the hole. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
If a small hole is made in the wall of a darkened room, an image of the scene outside can be formed by light rays passing through the hole. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
 |
59% buy the item featured on this page: Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Masterpieces |
 |
25% buy Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the lost techniques of the Old Masters £16.22 |
 |
8% buy Vermeer: The Complete Works £9.99 |
 |
4% buy Vermeer's Hat: The seventeenth century and the dawn of the global world £5.99 |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
|||||||
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
 |
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > History of Art & Architecture > By Chronology > Baroque to Neo-Classicism: 1600-1800 > Bestsellers
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > History of Art & Architecture > Countries & Regions > Europe > Baroque to Neo-Classical: 1600-1800
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > History of Art & Architecture > Countries & Regions > Europe > Bestsellers
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > History of Art & Architecture > Countries & Regions > Netherlands > Baroque to Neo-Classical: 1600-1800
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Painting & Drawing
- Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Photography > Techniques & Tools > Bestsellers
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
Vermeer Studies (History of Art)
This volume investigates Vermeer's art and the milieu in which he...
Read more
|
More From Philip Steadman
The Evolution of Designs: Biological... The Evolution of Designs tells the history of the many analogies that...
Read more
|
Treat Someone
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). |
||||||||
| |||||
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
You have no recently viewed items or searches.
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session. |
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
| ||||
Amazon Home | |
| International Sites: United States | Germany | France | Japan | Canada | China | |
| Business Programs: Sell on Amazon | Fulfilment by Amazon | Join Associates | Join Advantage | |
| Customer Service | Help | View Basket | Your Account | |
| About Amazon.co.uk | Careers at Amazon | |
| Conditions of Use & Sale | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates |