The Little Street

The scene Vermeer depicts is entirely shaded by clouds that appear to be cumulus clouds illuminated by the sun shining on the left. The main pigment of the blue sky is azurite, now extinct, the most common blue on the palette of 17th century Dutch painters. The clouds are executed by delicate but quick diagonal brushstrokes of white with small mixtures of red ochre and azurite.

In the 1660s, Vermeer became increasingly aware of the role of natural light in defining space and enhancing the mood of his paintings. In this painting, light does not play as active a role. In addition, by the 1660s Vermeer had perfected a series of techniques to suggest the different textures of objects, many of which involved the use of rich impasto paint. These textural effects are not evident in La Petite Rue, despite Vermeer's obvious interest in rendering the different surfaces of buildings.