The Texture of light: The Astronomer (1668) Johannes Vermeer

France, 1989

Film
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Episode of Series “Palettes”.
A detailed look at Vermeer’s painting “The Astronomer” and its companion piece “The Geographer” in the context of the entire body of Vermeer’s work, which is not large. These extraordinarily detailed portraits, all apparently set in the same interior, show a photographic vision, aided perhaps by the use of the camera obscura, and an acute awareness of the properties of light. Explores Vermeer’s technique and the possible symbolism of the paintings’ props.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Alain Jaubert

production company

Delta Image

FR3

La Sept

Les Films d'Ici

Duration

00:30:00:00

Production places
France
Production dates
1989

Appears in

Palettes

Group of items

Palettes

Explore

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

302925

Language

English

Subject categories

Crafts & Visual Arts → Painting, Dutch

Crafts & Visual Arts → Vermeer, Johannes, 1632-1675

People → Vermeer, Johannes, 1632-1675

Short films

Short films → Short films - France

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/81801--the-texture-of-light-the-astronomer-1668-johannes-vermeer/ |title=The Texture of light: The Astronomer (1668) Johannes Vermeer |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=18 April 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}