Johannes Vermeer was born in 1632, in the city of Delft in The Netherlands. Johannes Vermeer of Delft, also known as Jan Vermeer or Johannes van der Meer, is now considered to be one of the great Dutch masterpainters. However, his work was forgotten after his death in 1675. It was not rediscovered until the late 19th century. Little is known about his life and only 35 of his paintings have been preserved. His relatively short life and career as an artist is seen as another reason for small Vermeer heritage. It is assumed that many of his paintings were lost after his death. The only sources of information are some registers, a few official documents and comments by other artists.