This exhibition catalogue includes color plates of every surviving Johannes Vermeer painting.

To coincide with the Vermeer exhibition at the National Gallery, curator Wheelock has put together a thoroughly researched catalog of the exhibition's 23 works. Through the bits of evidence gleaned from Vermeer's life and 17th-century historical fact, Wheelock has pieced together Vermeer's artistic and geographical influences. The essay on the artist's use of perspective is the most remarkable because it enables the reader to understand the technician behind the artist; X-radiographs, included throughout the book, detail how Vermeer used a pin and a string to exercise his near-perfect perspective in his paintings. The excellent, full-size color plates are accompanied by brief descriptions of provenance, exhibitions, and technique.