Dutch Artists Painted Their Patriotism With Pearls And ... Parrots?
In the 1600s, after decades of war, the Netherlands was thriving. Artists like Johannes Vermeer celebrated the nation's wealth with images of fine clothing, glimmering pearls and imported parrots.
Johannes Vermeer's Young Woman Seated at a Virginal doesn't quite look like a Vermeer painting. The titular young woman is klutzy at her keyboard, and graceless. She's also sitting in a dark room â none of that ethereal, luminous light Vermeer normally shines on his subjects.
Vermeer created the painting in 1675, when he was in his early 40s and broke. It was the last year of his
