Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This episode of the ‘Great Artists’ seeks to uncover the facts behind the life of Jan Vermeer, the seventeenth century Dutch artist who lived and worked as a Catholic in a Protestant culture. Vermeer was unusual in that, having inherited his fathers business, he painted purely for pleasure and not for a living, but his life is shrouded in mystery and his importance was only established two hundred years after his death. Although fewer than 50 of his paintings survive, they include great works such as ‘The Allegory of Faith’ and ‘The Procuress’.
This episode of the ‘Great Artists’ seeks to uncover the facts behind the life of Jan Vermeer, the seventeenth century Dutch artist who lived and worked as a Catholic in a Protestant culture. Vermeer was unusual in that, having inherited his fathers business, he painted purely for pleasure and not for a living, but his life is shrouded in mystery and his importance was only established two hundred years after his death. Although fewer than 50 of his paintings survive, they include great works such as ‘The Allegory of Faith’ and ‘The Procuress’.
