The Vermeer Interviews: Conversations with Seven Works of Art

Bob Raczka conducts imaginary interviews with the subjects of seven paintings by seventeenth-century Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer. Figures including the eponymous milkmaid and the geographer answer questions about their lives and about the paintings in which they appear. For example, Raczka asks the geographer, "Were the maps in this painting made in the Netherlands?" The geographer replies, "Most definitely. Master Vermeer painted his maps so accurately that historians can identify their publishers." These interviews shed light on Vermeer's technique and point out interesting details about the paintings' compositions and histories. Bibliography. Full-color illustrations and reproductions.