The Age of Vermeer: The Enigmatic Genius of the Baroque and the Dawn of the Modern Era

Jan Vermeer died three and a half centuries ago, at the age of only 43. He left behind about 30 small paintings. They are not epic battle scenes, nor do they depict famous people or significant events. There is no Rembrandt-style drama or Rubens’s exuberant festive cheer. Instead, these are subtle, intimate works, breathing calm. Soft light pours through a window. Ordinary people are absorbed in their world, busy with everyday tasks: a woman reading a letter, another playing the lute, a lace-maker bending over her work, a painter painting.

So why is it that these few, at first glance unremarkable paintings still command our attention and hold so many riddles? Why do disputes about their provenance, and the multitude of forgeries and imitations, never quiet? Why does each of Vermeer’s paintings draw crowds of viewers no matter what exhibition it ends up in, and why does every museum lucky enough to own even a single painting by the master take pride in it as a true treasure?

In her book, Alexandra Perseeva—PhD in Art History, a specialist in semiotics and general art theory, a lecturer at the Higher School of Design at NRU HSE, co-author of popular online art and design courses (the total number of course attendees has already exceeded 100,000)—not only tells about Vermeer’s painting, but also becomes a guide for the reader into the world of Dutch art. She paints a vivid picture of the era in which the very things needed for modern life were formed: science, rational thinking, international trade, and a free arts market. You come to understand the context in which Vermeer’s creativity developed—and why it became exactly what we know today.

Alexandra reveals the depth and charm of Jan Vermeer’s paintings, shows how he influenced world art and continues to influence it, and explains why, even centuries after the master’s death, his works remain irresistible to us.