Catharina Bolnes

1631–1687

Catharina Bolnes was the wife of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer and the daughter of Maria Thins. She lived with Vermeer in Delft, bore a large family, and after his death in 1675 faced severe debts while trying to preserve the household and account for his paintings.

Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring is set in 1660s Delft. Sixteen-year-old Griet becomes a servant in the household of Johannes Vermeer after her father is blinded in an accident.