Abstract: Vermeer is a leading artist in the Dutch “Golden Age”(the 17th century),whose artistic style reflects the profound transformation of Western art from the classical to the modern.Vermeer focuses on the everyday life in which he lived,choosing family members or neighbors as models,and using his home as a studio.These seemingly simple phenomena contain the significance of complex modernity.Although a few works by him have survived,Vermeer's characteristic individual style marks a transmutation of art,from a classical form based on the literary narratives of religion,mythology and historical stories to the modern art emphasizing visuality and its experience.In this sense,Vermeer has initiated a modern trend of representing modern everydayness.

Key words: Vermeer, Dutch painting, everydayness, visual reflexivity, de-literary narrative