A simple stone marker in the floor of the Oude Kerk (Old Church) in Delft, marking the burial place of Johannes Vermeer. The modesty of the memorial is striking given that Vermeer is now one of the most famous painters in the world — Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Milkmaid, View of Delft — but he died in obscurity and poverty, and was largely forgotten for two centuries after his death.
The Oude Kerk itself is a handsome Gothic church with a dramatically leaning tower (visible from across the city). Other notable Delft citizens are buried here, including Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the inventor of the microscope, whose grave is nearby. The church charges a small admission fee. Combined with a visit to the Prinsenhof, it makes for a morning of Delft's Golden Age history.