Delft, Rijswijk, The Hague

This cycle tour centres around Delft, arguably the most charming old town in the western Netherlands. Delft is small, warm and peaceful. What Vermeer thought of it, we’ll never know. None of his personal letters survive – only official records and debt acknowledgements. He died young, at just 43. Of what, no one knows. A big family, little income – perhaps it simply became too much.

Vermeer’s best years fell in the Dutch Golden Age. Only after his death did his work begin to gain global recognition. His body of work is small: at most, 37 paintings are attributed to him. Two of those are still debated by experts. Books with new theories on Vermeer appear regularly – he remains one of the most famous, yet most mysterious figures in Dutch art.

We know surprisingly little about his personal life. His birth, marriage and death are documented in the city archives, as you’d expect in a well-organised city of a prosperous nation. And prosperous it was – the Dutch Republic in the Golden Age was a naval power, a trading nation and obsessed with record-keeping. That’s why we know Vermeer was born in Delft in October 1632, married Catharina Bolnes in Schipluiden on 20 April 1653, and died in Delft on 13 or 14 December 1675.

Vermeer lived his entire life in Delft. Perhaps he trained in Utrecht or Amsterdam – we don’t know. Delft was enough for him: small, yet lively, in the shadow of cities like The Hague, Haarlem and Amsterdam. There’s no sign he was a notable figure. When his mother-in-law Maria Thins had trouble with her violent son Willem, Vermeer stayed out of it. No report, no testimony. He was a member of the Saint Luke’s painters’ guild and the civic guard. Was he popular, brilliant, admired? No records say.

It’s best to let Vermeer’s paintings speak. They show refined colour, perfect perspective, extraordinary fabric textures and, above all, a mastery of light that was unique in his time – and still is. Let’s be glad these works survived, even if we sometimes have to cross half the world to see them.

For now, we’re lucky that so much of Vermeer’s Delft still exists. But this route doesn’t stop there. Following the Vliet, once a busy shipping route, we ride to The Hague – bigger, louder, more chaotic. Vermeer visited, but he preferred his familiar Delft. There, he painted women in quiet domestic scenes, elegant gatherings with wine, dreamers with letters or instruments, and a few Biblical and mythological works.

He also painted two unmatched cityscapes and one mysterious girl – his most famous work. For those, we leave Delft behind and cycle to a museum in The Hague, where two of these masterpieces are on permanent display. Some things you simply have to see with your own eyes. A Vermeer only truly lives when you stand before it.

This Premium cycle route was compiled by our editor: Matthijs Termeer.