View of Delft

Vermeer's own city seen from across the harbor on a changeable morning: storm-dark cloud hangs over the near roofs while sunlight breaks on the tower of the New Church beyond, its reflection trembling in the still water. He builds the light in tiny beads of thick paint that catch on the boats and walls like grains of sand. Almost the only townscape by an artist known for quiet interiors, several of which are also in this collection, it was the picture Marcel Proust called the most beautiful painting in the world.