VERMEER

This book is going to revolutionize the way we understand Vermeer Peter CareyThe paintings of Johannes Vermeer of Delft are some of the most beautiful even sublime in the history of art Yet like the life of Vermeer himself they are mysterious and have for centuries defied explanation Following new leads and drawing on a mass of historical evidence some of it freshly uncovered in the archives of Delft and Rotterdam Andrew Graham Dixon paints a dramatically new picture of Vermeer revealing many of the painter s hitherto unknown friendships as well as his previously undetected allegiance to a radical movement driven underground by persecution He also vividly evokes the world of the Dutch Republic as it was in its so called Golden Age This was a watery world of fortresses and flood plains taverns rocked by argument and cities stunned by devastating attacks and explosions all linked by a network of canals where a uniquely efficient public transport system operated by horse drawn passenger barge enabled people goods and ideas to glide effortlessly from one place to another The author sets Vermeer firmly in the context of his time revealing the patterns of patronage that make sense of his work and also exposing the difficulties posed by his home life whic