Where can you see Johannes Vermeer in Paris?

At the Louvre Museum: The Lacemaker and The Astronomer. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Johannes Vermeer's most famous work in Paris?

The Lacemaker, of about 1669 to 1670, at the Louvre Museum. A girl bent over her bobbins, entirely absorbed. It is the smallest of his paintings, about 24 by 21 centimetres, and Renoir called it one of the two most beautiful pictures in the world. It hangs on the second floor of the Richelieu wing.

When and where was Johannes Vermeer born?

On October 1632, at Delft, Netherlands. Johannes Vermeer died on 15 December 1675, at Delft, Netherlands, aged about 43.

What is Johannes Vermeer known for?

Painted Girl with a Pearl Earring, in The Hague. Fewer than forty of his paintings are known. Forgotten for two centuries, rediscovered in the 1860s. Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter, of the Dutch Golden Age.

Painter, 1632 to 1675

Johannes Vermeer

There are fewer than forty Vermeers in the world. The Louvre has two, hung side by side, and each is small enough to cover with a sheet of paper.

The Lacemaker, by Vermeer: a girl in yellow bent over her lace pillow. — Johannes Vermeer, Public domain

The Astronomer, by Vermeer: a scholar at a window, reaching for a celestial globe. — Johannes Vermeer, Public domain

A detail of a painting by Vermeer, a smiling man in a beret, thought to be the painter himself. — Johannes Vermeer, Public domain

Born: 1632, Delft, Netherlands
Died: 1675, Delft, Netherlands
Movement: Dutch Golden Age
In Paris: 2 works in 1 museum

Where to see Johannes Vermeer in Paris

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

Louvre Museum2 works

The Lacemaker
about 1669 to 1670
A girl bent over her bobbins, entirely absorbed. It is the smallest of his paintings, about 24 by 21 centimetres, and Renoir called it one of the two most beautiful pictures in the world. It hangs on the second floor of the Richelieu wing.
The Astronomer
1668
A scholar reaching for a celestial globe, in the same light and probably the same room. It has been in the Louvre since 1983.

The life of Johannes Vermeer

Vermeer spent his whole life in Delft, where he was born in 1632. He painted slowly, perhaps two or three pictures a year, almost all of them of a woman or a man alone in the corner of a room, lit from a window on the left. He also dealt in paintings and ran the family inn.

He died in 1675, in debt, leaving a widow and eleven children. He was nearly forgotten for two hundred years, until a French critic rediscovered him in the 1860s. Today each of his paintings is a pilgrimage.

What to know

Painted Girl with a Pearl Earring, in The Hague
Fewer than forty of his paintings are known
Forgotten for two centuries, rediscovered in the 1860s

Born: October 1632, Delft, Netherlands
Died: 15 December 1675, Delft, Netherlands

Johannes Vermeer: common questions

Where can you see Johannes Vermeer in Paris?: At the Louvre Museum: The Lacemaker and The Astronomer. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Johannes Vermeer's most famous work in Paris?: The Lacemaker, of about 1669 to 1670, at the Louvre Museum. A girl bent over her bobbins, entirely absorbed. It is the smallest of his paintings, about 24 by 21 centimetres, and Renoir called it one of the two most beautiful pictures in the world. It hangs on the second floor of the Richelieu wing.
When and where was Johannes Vermeer born?: On October 1632, at Delft, Netherlands. Johannes Vermeer died on 15 December 1675, at Delft, Netherlands, aged about 43.
What is Johannes Vermeer known for?: Painted Girl with a Pearl Earring, in The Hague. Fewer than forty of his paintings are known. Forgotten for two centuries, rediscovered in the 1860s. Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter, of the Dutch Golden Age.