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“The Geographer” is one of Jan Vermeer’s canvas. At this canvas, we can see the figure of a man. There is just few canvas where the painter decided to put a man as a central and only figure. This canvas presents an indoor scene that was common to Vermeer. I would like to use several quotations in this work for the best depiction of the canvas and it will allow us to plunge into discussed question with more details. According to http://vermeer0708.wordpress.com/ we see that “this is a potent image of the meditation and work of the scholar; it is the power of the human reason, the spirit of the enlightenment in a nutshell. This image was painted between 1668 and 1669”.
What can we say about the canvas in general? Light is flowing from the left to the right side of the canvas. This peculiarity of the light flowing activates “The Geographer”. This flowing of the light is compositionally accentuated with the help of the massing of objects at the left side. Geographic instrument are painted accurately and the figure and part of the table are alighted well. I want to give one quotation here about the light of this composition: “The light spills forcefully into the open area on the right, casting a powerful series of diagonal shadows.” (http://www.artchive.com/) The initial depiction at the canvas was adjusted on the figure to make stance more active. I couldn’t describe canvas better then Harden did it and that is why I want to add one more quotation. We can see that “the geographer originally looked down at the table, with his dividers also pointed down. Adjusting the composition to align the man’s face and the dividers with the flow of light gave further energy to the movement across the canvas. The folds of the robe also serve to activate the figure, with their dynamic, almost abstract depiction in their sunlit portion”. (http://www.artchive.com/)
The man at the canvas is at the active position. He is thinking; he is doing his job; he is focused on his idea. This canvas’ energy is different from the passive energy of other canvas where the main figures are female figures.