The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Dutch painter Johannes (Jan) Vermeer's The Allegory of Painting, also known as The Art of Painting. Many art historians have thought that this work was created in praise of the "art of painting." However, this paper will show that The Allegory of Painting was instead a political statement on Vermeer's part.
Vermeer lived during the seventeenth century, a time which is known as the "Golden Age" of Holland. This was a period when great changes took place in virtually every area of Dutch life, creating an environment in which the arts flourished. The changes of the day were largely shaped by political events, as this was the time during which Holland won its status as an independent nation.-. There was also a current of religious tolerance in the air due to the spread of Protestantism in the region. Furthermore, this was a era of great prosperity for the Dutch, who were actively engaged in colonial expansion and international trade. All of these things led to a cultural flowering, in which great advances were made in philosophy and science as well as in the fine arts.
The seventeenth century began with Holland's victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Nieupoort in 1600. The Dutch had been fighting for their independence from the oppressive rule of the King Philip II of Spain since 1568. Philip, who was rigidly Catholic, had come into power ten years earlier, when his father, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, abdicated. Philip immediately demanded "a three million guilder tribute to Spain in addition to the taxes already being paid, suppression of all Protestant sects and submission to his half-sister Margaret, the Duchess of Parma, whom he had made regent of the Lowlands."1 This harsh treatment caused the Dutch to rebel, and a war broke out between Spain and Holland which continued until 1648, when the United Provinces of the Netherlands finally won their independence from the...