The Vermeer Center Delft brings back Johannes Vermeer to Delft. The center is located at the historical location of the Saint Lucas guild (painters guild) on the Voldersgracht. Johannes Vermeer is one of the best known artists from the Dutch Golden Age. His name is inextricably linked with Delft, the city in which he was born in 1632 and where he lived and worked all his life. His paintings found their way all over the world. The Vermeer Center Delft is housed on the historic site of the former St. Lucas Guild, where Vermeer was Dean of the painters for many years.
In the world of Vermeer, you experience 17th century Delft. Wandering through the famous ‘View of Delft’ and encounters with Vermeer's environment and the breeding ground for his talent: the blossoming academic and artistic climate in Delft, his customers, his family and his wealthy mother-in-law.
In Vermeer's world, life-size images of all his paintings have been brought together. An oeuvre of 36 paintings in which Vermeer created a whole new world.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.