Title: Excellent Non-Biography
Review: Anthony Bailey's somewhat misleadingly titled Vermeer not-quite-biography is meticulously researched, lovingly detailed, and suffused with a powerful affection and appreciation for both Vermeer's painting and Dutch history. It is only ever less than fascinating when dealing with the old master himself.So little is known of Vermeer as to leave his biographers only slightly better off than those of Shakespeare, imagining that this document indicated this mood, this painting signifies that political opinion...such supposition is not terribly interesting to the lay reader.But in his detailed recreation of 17th century Delft and his lush and delicate descriptions of the major canvases, Bailey makes up for the limitations of his subject. This period of Dutch history is so rich it seems almost a shame to spend so much of the text on a figure about whom so little is known, and Bailey recounts it beautifully.An excellent book, then, unless one really wants a biography of Vermeer.
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