Closer to Vermeer: New Research on the Painter and His Art

The successor to the international bestseller Vermeer, featuring groundbreaking research on the Dutch master.

Even 350 years after his death, Johannes Vermeer remains an inexhaustible source of fascination for art lovers and researchers alike. Closer to Vermeer provides a captivating analysis of research conducted during and after the Rijksmuseum’s blockbuster 2023 Vermeer exhibition.

The book reveals new insights into Vermeer’s creative process, materials and painting techniques, exploring the meaning of his works and his evolving fame. It also addresses intriguing questions about the maps in his interiors, the role of the camera obscura, his choice of materials and newly discovered documents about his patrons.

Richly illustrated, this book offers both art historians and passionate art lovers a unique glimpse into Vermeer’s life and work and serves as an essential reference for future research on Vermeer.

About the Author

Ige Verslype has been working as a paintings conservator at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, since 2004. Abbie Vandivere is a paintings conservator at the Mauritshuis, and from 2018 to 2020 was head researcher for the technical examination of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Dorothy Mahon is Walter Burke Conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Irma Boom is a Dutch graphic designer who specializes in bookmaking. Often described as the ‘Queen of Books’, she remains the youngest ever recipient of the Gutenberg Prize.