
Johannes Vermeer: life of the week
From HistoryExtra podcast by Immediate
April 27, 2026 · 42 min · Episode 2528
About this episode
This episode explores the life of Johannes Vermeer and the context of the Dutch Republic in the 17th century.
Johannes Vermeer is now regarded as one of the leading lights of the Dutch Golden Age, and indeed one of the greatest artists of all time. But in his own lifetime he was hardly known outside his own circle, and made so little money that he could barely afford to feed his large family. In this episode of the HistoryExtra podcast, Andrew Graham-Dixon, author of a new biography of Vermeer, chronicles the artist’s life – and argues that to fully understand the man and his work, we need to explore the religious milieu of the Dutch Republic in the 17th century. He was joined in conversation by Rob Attar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Rob Attar
Guest: Andrew Graham-Dixon
Topics covered
- Johannes Vermeer
- Dutch Golden Age
- art history
- 17th century
- religious milieu
Keywords
- Johannes Vermeer
- Dutch Golden Age
- art
- biography
- 17th century
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Johannes Vermeer
Places: Dutch Republic
More episodes of HistoryExtra podcast
- Masters of disinformation: how British spies played dirty in the Cold War · June 11, 2026 · 35 min
- Churchill's toughest decision · June 9, 2026 · 36 min
- Henry Paget: life of the week · June 8, 2026 · 44 min
- The hidden history of female sexual pleasure · June 7, 2026 · 48 min
- Why Cleopatra was more than a bewitching beauty · June 6, 2026 · 41 min
- Better than Bridgerton: the real Georgian masquerade · June 4, 2026 · 49 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the HistoryExtra podcast podcast page.