- [Voiceover] In Mr. Frick's day,
Rembrandt was the most highly
regarded Dutch Old Master.
In our time, he's been
supplanted by Vermeer.
In place of Rembrandt's splendor
and unrestrained emotions,
Vermeer offered images
of Puritanical order
and quiet harmony.
Each age has its own
aesthetic needs it seems.
This small picture presents
the familiar components
of a classic Vermeer.
A man and a woman seen sharing
a pleasant moment alone
in a comfortable interior
flooded with golden light
and you can almost feel it, cool air.
Whatever the nature of the
human exchange depicted here,
it soon seems obvious
that the real subject
of the picture is light.
The intangible light shown bursting
in through the open window,
breaking out reflections
in the leaded panes,
muffled through the curtains,
caressing the soft plaster wall,
lingering sporadically on
glowing fabrics, sparkling glass,
or the soft expanse of the velour map
which depicts Holland West at the top.
But the light soon
recedes into dark corners
and will soon accent the
young woman's beguiling face,
and soft kerchief differently.
In this subtle fashion,
Vermeer makes light a metaphor for time
and reminds us ever so gently
of its inevitable consequences.
Fortunate are we to have
been permitted to eavesdrop
on this golden moment.
