I was very intrigued by the way this novel is layed out. It chronicles the life of a painting, and starting with its current owner, goes back in time as the painting changes hands, all the way back to when it was painted. I have never seen a book written this way before, and it was fascinating.
The artist Vermeer is known to have created 35 paintings. In this novel, the author tells the story of a possible 36th, which has fallen into the hands of Cornelius Engelbrect, a math teacher at a Pennsylvania boys’ academy. One day the thrill of owning this painting cannot be contained any longer, and Cornelius confides in a colleague, an art teacher, about his find, insisting that it is truly a Vermeer. His friend cannot accept it as an original, although he does concede that the style of the painting is very much like Vermeer’s.
We follow the painting backwards, through the hands of the poor peasant family who are given the painting to sell for food, the aristocrats and gentlemen through ages. The painting affects each owner in a different way. Some find it the source of inspiration. Others can only see its material value. But each take the time to admire it, noting the richness of the blue in the girl’s gown and the graceful way she sits.
At last we reach Magdalena, the daughter of Vermeer. For years she has watched beautiful women come to sit for her father, and she envies them. She knows she’s not beautiful. She knows that her father can only see life through his canvas. Just once, she wants to be the sole object of his attention, to have him talk to her and care what she has to say in return. Her silent prayer is answered when he decides to use her as the subject for this particular painting.
Hours upon hours she sits for him, finally receiving his attention and his praise. This segment of the book is the one that struck me the hardest – the daughter wanting to be appreciated, the father so wrapped up in work that he doesn’t notice the precious jewel he’s been given as a daughter, and the chance they have to mend their relationship through this painting.
There is one amorous scene in a parlor that didn’t really need to be there, but I found the rest of the book to be tremendously uplifting. The painting is fictional, but it grew into reality for me as I read this fascinating book.
(This book was published by Penguin in 2000)