View of Delft

The stillness of the painting creates an aura of reverence for the city and its proud history. Although a few figures stand on the shore in the foreground, the harbor remains quiet, the long shadows forming visual bridges to the city beyond.

The painting's strength comes in part from its large scale, which allows the viewer to enter the space, but also from the tangible illusion of reality. Vermeer achieved this through his mastery of light and his ability to create textural effects. Buildings, for example, take on a physical presence through Vermeer's suggestive way of juxtaposing small dots of unmodulated color with brush strokes. He used a similar technique to suggest the reflection of water on the sides of boats. These diffuse reflections are comparable to those seen in a camera obscura, indicating that he may have designed this painting using this optical device.