Johannes Vermeer: life of the week

Andrew Graham-Dixon chronicles the life of the world-renowned artist who was barely known in his own lifetime

Published: April 28, 2026 at 9:53 AM

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Johannes Vermeer is now regarded as one of the leading lights of the Dutch Golden Age, and indeed one of the greatest artists of all time. But in his own lifetime he was hardly known outside his own circle, and made so little money that he could barely afford to feed his large family.

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In this episode of the HistoryExtra podcast, Andrew Graham-Dixon, author of a new biography of Vermeer, chronicles the artist’s life – and argues that to fully understand the man and his work, we need to explore the religious milieu of the Dutch Republic in the 17th century. He was joined in conversation by Rob Attar.

Authors

Rob AttarHead of content and editor of HistoryExtra magazine

Rob Attar is head of content and editor of HistoryExtra magazine

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