Vermeer's intensely quiet and enigmatic paintings invite the viewer into a private world, often prompting more questions than answers. Who is being portrayed? Are his subjects real or imagined? And how did he create such an unrivalled sense of intimacy? Bringing together diverse strands of the Dutch master's professional and private worlds, this is the first major authoritative study of Vermeer's life and work for many years, throwing light on all thirty-seven of his paintings. The book was designed by Irma Boom, the 'Queen of Books', and printed on an uncoated 'Munken Print White' paper, specially commissioned to ensure the veracity of colours. Irma Boom says: 'the matte paper brings you closer to Vermeer; there is no gloss or glare in between, just like with the real works.' With a wide selection of contextual illustrations, commentaries and up-to-date research by distinguished international Vermeer scholars, this is the definitive volume on the most admired of all seventeenth-century Dutch masters.