The tower also shows a sliver of sunlight that skims one colum just enough to illuminate a neighbouring column, allowing the precise angle of the sun to be calculated. Historians had claimed that Vermeer had enlarges the tower but measurements of the picture, the real church tower and high-resolution photographs from a similar vantage point all revealed the church was painted with astonishing accuracy. One key landmark was the octagonal tower of Nieuwe Kerk, the New Church. Google Earth was then used to map the distances and angles of the landscapes in the painting, giving a measuring stick for the entire scene. It was known that Vermeer stayed at Delft in an inn, and using historical maps the scientists found his view was looking north, and the pattern of sunlight and shade also revealed that it was a morning scene. Their evidence suggested that Vermeer created his artwork from the second floor of an inn overlooking the city at 8am on September 3, 1659, or possibly the year before. Then a team led by the astronomer Professor Donald Olson did an intensive study, which revealed telltale clues. Astronomers solved a mystery surrounding Joannes Vermeer's painting View of Delft which shows the city in exquisite detail, a masterpiece of light and shade on a day of sunshine and clouds.ĭebate had long raged about when the picture was painted.

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