Vermeer's hat

In Vermeer's Hat, Timothy Brook writes a compelling essay on several of the artist's paintings, which superficially appear to depict an intimate, familiar setting but are, in fact, the starting point for understanding a rapidly expanding world. Drawing on elements found in the famous Dutch painter's paintings, the Canadian historian outlines the rapidly expanding trade routes capable of bringing a beaver pelt, a Turkish rug, or Chinese porcelain to a living room in Delft, the artist's hometown. "In this book, we will examine five paintings by Vermeer, plus a canvas by Hendrik van der Burch, his contemporary from Delft, and the decoration of a porcelain plate made in the city, searching for signs of local life. I chose these seven paintings not only for what they depict, but also for the clues to broader historical forces hidden in their details," explains Brook. The author shows how the connections between the paintings' elements reveal a world undergoing a rapid process of integration, already in the 17th century. The gallant officer's hat in *Officer and Smiling Girl* is made of beaver fur, which European explorers obtained from Native Americans in exchange for weapons. In turn, beaver pelts financed the voyages of sailors seeking new routes to China. There, with silver mined in Peru, Europeans would buy, by the thousands, the porcelain pieces so often depicted in Dutch paintings of the period. The anchorages of the Netherlands, as a French visitor wrote, were "an inventory of the possible." Vermeer's hat demonstrates in detail the richness of this inventory and how the eagerness to acquire such objects reshaped the world. Timothy Brook surprises by presenting this new interpretation of the Dutch painter's paintings and the period they depict.