Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World

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It has been professionally rewarding, and such a personal joy, joining the Mac.Rob school community this term as acting principal whilst Sue Harrap is on leave. I am learning so much and enjoy being immersed in the warm, inclusive and committed culture that exists at the school. Is it the case that the more you look in detail at something, the more obvious these large themes become? Molière's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme includes a ballet with music by court composer Jean Baptiste Lully, 38, who has come to France from his native Florence and changed his name from Giovanni Battista Lulli. The ballet is so popular that four performances are requested in the space of 8 days.

Parts of Baruch de Spinoza's "Tractatus Theologico-Politicus" are published anonymously. Spinoza shows that the Bible, if properly understood, gives no support to the intolerance of religious authorities and their interference in civil and political affairs. The book creates a furor. It will provoke widespread denunciations as it goes through five editions in the next 5 years. Spinoza moves to The Hague to gain the protection of influential friends. Now 37, he suffers from tuberculosis after years of inhaling glass dust produced by his lens-grinding. Effortless and compelling, Brooks is a wonderful storyteller. I doubt I will read a better book this year.' Sunday Telegraph The semicircular Sheldonian Theater at Oxford, England, designed by Christopher Wren, is completed. Caps and bonnets were another staple, frequently worn over a coif. These could range from simple linen pieces to more elaborate creations made of luxurious materials and adorned with ribbons or lace. The millstone collar, although not a hat, was a unique feature of Dutch fashion that framed the face much like a headpiece. Made of starched linen, these collars were often intricately pleated and could be quite elaborate, adding a distinctive touch to a woman's appearance. The identity of the androgynous girl remains unknown, yet her features bear resemblance to those of the Girl with a Red Hat, an artwork often regarded as a pendant by numerous experts. Within this present piece, the portrayal of the girl's face appears noticeably less refined than that of her counterpart. This divergence could be attributed to certain crucial portions of the painting being unfinished or subject to overpainting by another hand. The current depiction may be indicative of the so-called "working-up" phase, a common process that followed the initial monochromatic underpainting. Broad and simplified shifts of light and darkness establish both the anatomical characteristics and the play of light. Conceivably, certain rough transitions might have been softened using the "badger brush," or "sweetener," a fan-shaped brush employed not for direct application, but rather for seamlessly blending distinct tones.Overall, exploring the various opportunities in Germany, the importance and usefulness of learning German and just enjoying the sunny warm day with our friends and peers at the German Careers Day at Melbourne University made it an exciting and entertaining opportunity. - Ayanna A, Khushi A and Thy M Also in The Guardian, Jerry Brotton describes Vermeer's Hat as "the finest book on Vermeer I've read in years." He states that "by deftly unravelling their stories, he gives us a picture of Vermeer unwittingly sitting in at the birth of the modern global world" and concludes that "This is a fabulous book that drags Vermeer away from our complacent Eurocentric assumptions of his insular domesticity."

The most conspicuous argument against their pendant status is that the Girl with a Flute doesn't uphold the overall technical excellence of its counterpart. However, scientific analysis reveals that the inconsistencies can be reasonably attributed to the subpar state of conservation of the Girl with a Flute. Alternatively, the possibility that the work was intentionally left unfinished remains open. I don’t know that they would have thought about ‘globalisation’ as such, I don’t know that they wouldn’t either. I think part of what Brook is suggesting is that these interiors — the Turkish carpets, the porcelain — are put together for a specific reason, which is that they show a cosmopolitan world view, which is particularly indicative of the cultural world of the Dutch middle class in this period. You could apply it to the middle class in London as well, or even to some English provincial towns. That world view is increasingly globalised, it’s increasingly showing knowledge of the rest of the world, an interest in commodities. In the late seventeenth century, in England, it becomes much more common in gentry houses to have cotton curtains, which were made in India. This causes all kinds of consternation among the wool industry in England because they’re worried about the competition. It shows that the world of at least some people is becoming increasingly globalised. Paradise Lost is written by John Milton, who has been blind since 1652 but has dictated to his daughters the 10-volume work on the fall of man ("Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven." Milton's Adam questions the angel Raphael about celestial mechanics, Raphael replies with some vague hints and then says that "the rest from Man or Angel the great Architect did wisely conceal and not divulge His secrets to be scann'd by them who ought rather admire." The work enjoys sales of 1,300 copies in 18 months and will be enlarged to 12 volumes in 1684, the year of Milton's death; Annus Mirabilis by John Dryden is about the Dutch War and last year's Great Fire. De Verstandige Kok (The Sensible Cook) is published for the first time. Geared towards middle- and upper middle-class families, the book advises a regular and balanced diet, including fresh meat at least once a week, frequent servings of bread and cheese, stew, fresh vegetables and salads. While simple dishes, such as porridge, pancakes and soup with bread are eaten by all classes, studies reveal that only the affluent have regular access to fresh vegetables during the period; the less wealthy depend on dried peas and beans. This book discusses these objects in interiors. How aware would the individual who owns them herself been of their links to globalisation?

Interview: Joe ‘Jiminy’ McElderry

I’m really interested in the figure of Bertrand. It’s easy to extrapolate that she can’t have been particularly happy with the real Martin Guerre, who abandoned her.

We are starting with a small number of achievable targets for funds raised as part of the Building and Library Funds:Peter Conrad, writing in The Observer, is more critical. He is of the opinion that "Brook is so intent on cost and the grim injustice of expropriation that he can seem crassly unresponsive, indifferent to the almost beatific peace of the paintings" and "knows everything about price, but rather less about value." I read that factual historical sources and historical literature were a two-way street, the one influences the other because the way you see yourself reflected in literature obviously changes the way that you behave, and the way you behave changes the way you write. The juxtaposition of the ordinary and extraordinary stands as one hallmark of the tronie genre (refer to the Special Topic box below). Irrespective of this, the girl's partially open mouth automatically excludes the work from being classified as a portrait, given that the depiction of teeth or the tongue was consistently avoided in true portraiture, arguably the most traditional facet of 17th-century artistry. Mar. 11, A new legal code was approved for the Dutch and English towns, guaranteeing religious observances unhindered.