Domestic scenes involving quiet exchanges between richly dressed women, their maids, and occasionally their suitors, are characteristic of painting from Delft during the 17th century.

Johannes Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch excelled in work of this type. In their carefully composed interiors and courtyards, they paid great attention to the role light can play in creating illusions of space.

Carel Fabritius painted his diminutive view of Delft two years before he died prematurely in a gunpowder explosion that devastated the town. His painting records the city’s main church and town hall, but also reveals the artist’s interest in perspective and optics. Such works, along with architectural paintings, were appreciated for their precise geometric designs, illusionism, and subtly balanced atmospheric light effects.

Elaborately constructed peepshows or perspective boxes enjoyed a brief popularity in the 1660s and later; a rare example by Samuel van Hoogstraten can be seen in this room.