What a spectacular story. The first time I saw a Vermeer I was blown away. he seemed to be on his own wavelength entirely, as if the renaissance sort of hit him on another astral plane. That shit's magic, yo, and I can see why those with a less prosaic sense of the universe hate the idea of seeing behind the curtain. I call it "Von Daniken Syndrome" as if we aren't allowed to appreciate the ingenuity of our forbears, only their gnostic mysticism. By the way, the way they casually call Tim Jenison "an inventor" is a little disingenuous and a bit of a slight at the same time. Tim Jenison created Video Toaster and Lightwave. These are the programs that allowed companies other than Industrial Lights and Magic to do CGI. It's fair to say Tim Jenison had as much effect on cinema and television as Steve Jobs had on computing. I'm delighted he's found something productive to do with his dotage. We still use newtek products all the time. It's good, cheap gear.
So Erich Von Daniken wrote a book called "Chariots of the Gods?". It also became a movie. It's on Netflix Instant, and although it's not worth your time, it's worth a few minutes of your time. "Chariots of the Gods" postulates that the pyramids were built by aliens. He was the first of these. Thus started all this "pyramid power" shit. The Nazca lines were runways for aliens, etc etc etc. Von Daniken is Patient Zero for the "ancient astronauts" hypothesis. Basically, it goes like this: 1) Damn, this ancient shit is impressive. 2) But I'm not impressed by ancient people because I'm obviously the pinnacle of my species. 3) Therefore this ancient shit wasn't done by people, it was done by fucking magic. "Von Daniken Syndrome" is my name for the constellation of symptoms associated with disrespect for those who came before you. If you can't figure it out, nobody can figure it out. If you can't understand how to build stonehenge with paleolithic tools, nobody could have built stonehenge with paleolithic tools. If you can't figure out what Nazca lines are for, nobody can figure out what Nazca lines are for. And, should some errant scientist put forth a perfectly logical explanation for these profound mysteries that involves knowledge beyond your ken, they're obviously delusional, because So. While it's perfectly acceptable to believe that Vermeer had unholy, unforeseen talent, it's complete sacrilege to suppose that he actually figured out some clever applications of optics that gave him an edge on his peers. In my opinion, that doesn't make him less of an artist, it makes him also a craftsman. Just like William Chamberlen wasn't less of a doctor, he was also an inventor.
There is actually a painting by Vermeer where he paints himself (?) while painting. Without any camera obscura and mirrors. http://www.essentialvermeer.com/catalogue/art_of_painting.ht...