Ten Vermeers

Extract

All men fall under the spell of Vermeer’s pictures, although the roads leading to the temple of their adoration are many. This man bends the knee because the Delfter has taught him what colour really is; the man yonder loves them for their charming intimacy. To him Vermeer is the Elia of painters because he can introduce a man to his family and relatives without boring him and at the same time make him feel that he is the one and only friend to whom he accords the privilege. Another may be drawn by the intrinsic genre revealed in the interiors. I think I was first attracted to him on hearing that he paid his baker with his pictures instead of with coin; for there was ever a dearth of the latter in the Vermeer home.

It doesn’t really matter however why you like Vermeer : reasons are not always essential. We all understand the couplet:

‘I do not like thee Dr. Fell.
The reason why I cannot tell.’