Effortless and compelling,Brooks is a wonderful storyteller. I doubt I will read a better book this year.'Sunday TelegraphEach of Vermeer's paintings tells a story. In one,a military officer leans toward a laughing girl; in another,a woman stands by a window and weighs silver; in a third,fruit spills from a porcelain bowl onto a lavish Turkish carpet. Hiding in plain sight,these details hint at the intricate threads that bound Vermeer's world together - the officer's hat is made from North American beaver,bought with silver extracted from the mines of Peru,while beaver pelts were traded in their thousands for the Chinese porcelain so beloved by the Dutch in the Golden Age. From a view of Delft,Vermeer gives us the world.As a new Vermeer exhibition opens at the Rijksmuseum,the largest of its kind in history,Vermeer's Hat offers a fascinating perspective on how the burgeoning forces of trade and commerce shaped Vermeer's masterpieces.
MEDIA REVIEWS
Publisher: Profile Books LtdISBN: 9781846681202Number of pages: 288Weight: 220 gDimensions: 196 x 126 x 22 mmEdition: Main
MEDIA REVIEWS
Spell-binding...as a guide to the world behind the pictures Vermeer's Hat is mind-expandingA brilliant attempt to make us understand the reach and breadth of the first global ageBrook takes you into the paintings in a way that can be spookily intimateBrook is a gifted storyteller... spellbinding... a treasure trove of astonishing pleasuresHow brilliantly Brook connects all with allRevelatoryIlluminating footnotes to Vermeer's miracles on canvasAn erudite,surprising book that finds traces of swashbuckling where you'd least expectTruly mesmerising. In this accessible but authoritative study,he... shows better than anyone I've read so far,the truly subversive power of detail
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