JOHANNES VERMEER: “View of the Delft”, 1661 - oil on canvas, 98- 117,5 cm. – The Hague, Mauritshuis

Talking about this painting, some critics said that it is perhaps the first impressionist work of the history of the painting. Marcel Proust assured that it is “the most beautiful picture of the world”. Praising aside, the painting is the zenith of the Dutch landscape painting of the 17 th century and, therefore, one of the great landscapes of all time.

The apparently simple composition locks up some exceptionally interesting elements: first, it's highly remarkable the clarity, almost purity, with which Vermeer represents the buildings of the city. For this purpose, he probably had to eliminate several boats that without a doubt would be aground at the harbour of the city. This highlights the vision of the architecture of Delft , which also constitutes a visual barrier that prevents the vision beyond the distance decided by the painter. All this clearly divides the composition in three levels: superior, which occupies approximately the 60% of the surface of the canvas, depicting the sky; the middle one corresponding to the architectonic visual wall, and a lower one, in which, next to the water, appears a small group of figures, painted –contrary to many others landscape painters of the time- by the painter himself. The painting's incredible precision and realism made many critics to suppose the use of a dark camera, although this fact has not been confirmed.