'The Little Street', oil on canvas painting c. 1657-8 by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (Jan Vermeer van Delft, 1632-1675). It is considered a masterpiece of the Dutch realist genre painting of the mid-17th-century Delft School. This is known for images of street scenes, courtyards, squares, households and domestic life. Several possible locations of this realistic quiet street in Delft have been made, but it has been suggested that it may be an allegorical representation compiled from various elements and places. This is similar to the courtyard scenes with open doorways painted by another artist Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684), a contemporary of Vermeer in the Delft guild of St. Luke.