Johannes Vermeer: The Magic and the Mystery
Brian Healey
Very few paintings survive by this remarkable artist, and very little documentation survives to cast light on his background, yet each painting is an Aladdin’s cave of fabulous detail, exquisitely painted and full of enigmatic mystery. This lecture helps explain the enduring fascination of paintings such as The View of Delft, The Milk Maid, Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Little Street. Through examination of the techniques used in their construction, the allegorical significance of repeated motifs such as the musical instruments and an exposé of some of the contemporary political and social background to the paintings, the mysteries are, partially, at least, revealed.
Brian Healey:
A senior modern languages teacher in an independent grammar school for many years, Brian has also enjoyed a successful parallel career since the 1980s as a professional artist and interior designer. Since 2006 he has been regularly appointed to a number of prestigious ocean and river cruise lines, either as resident artist, guest lecturer on art history or as destination speaker for more than forty countries. Most recently this work has successfully extended to art guiding through important towns and museums in France, Belgium, Holland and Spain.