Johannes Vermeer might have have been the greatest painter who ever lived; not because of subject matter, scale, philosophy of art, nor daring. Quite simply Vermeer may have possessed a greater command of the medium of oil paint and a knowledge of colour theory than any other artist who ever painted. He may have used a camera obscura to witness the diffusion and play of light (as quite convincingly expressed by David Hockney) but we all take advantage of the tools afforded us.

I created a copy of this painting for my Father. But the lion head finials of the original have been changed to my Dad's dead dog Buffy. My hope is that Johannes would not mind.