> To put it with maximum extremity, should a student be able to turn-in a traced photograph for their homework in a life drawing class?
Vermeer may have done effectively that and painted projections (from a camera obscura or similar device). He's still widely considered one of the greatest artists of the Dutch Golden Age.
Possibly. It's not proven that Vermeer used any device, though it does seem likely. The Camera Lucida was extremely obscure in Vermeer's time, so it's less likely he used one than the (much older and simpler) Camera Obscura.
Vermeer may have done effectively that and painted projections (from a camera obscura or similar device). He's still widely considered one of the greatest artists of the Dutch Golden Age.