Learning a Bit About Vermeer

My art history knowledge is spotty. I don't remember hearing of the painter Vermeer until some time in the 1980s or maybe even the 1990s, probably when his "Girl with a Pearl Earring" was in an exhibit somewhere in the U.S. (See, I don't even remember the details.)

This thread on Twitter just informed me that the painting is what's known as a "tronie," rather than a portrait. It's from an account called The Cultural Tutor, who runs a site of the same name that's full of interesting-looking tutorials.

He ends the thread with this portrait, possibly a self-portrait, of Vermeer himself:

Vermeer died at age 43, and though he was moderately successful during his lifetime, his work never left his home city of Delft while he was still alive.