In The Milieu of Vermeer

By Jonathan Mathias

This is supposed to be the best book about Johannes Vermeer the painter. Frankly, what is known about him could probably fit in a couple of pages. The rest is about family (descendants and ancestors), friends, relatives and the people around him as well as what life was like during his lifetime. Very informative but pretty dry. I usually read a book from cover to cover but this is one of the very few that I didn’t. I wasn’t really interested in his wife’s family.