Johannes Veermeer's Hat

World trade and global mobility are thought to be a more recent phenomenon. However, by analyzing Johannes Vermeer’s paintings as Brook does in Vermeer’s Hat, it is apparent that in the 17th century is when globalization began to affect the world in big ways. Vermeer’s Hat shows an interesting way of teaching by analyzing the paintings of Johannes Vermeer. The analysis goes very deep and Brook makes an emphasis that these paintings open many doors to the discovery of the 17th century. More specific than the paintings, Brook connects certain objects in the paintings to events that occurred in the 17th century. He emphasizes that everything is included in Vermeer’s paintings for a reason and that reason is important to understanding the 17th century. Brook especially focuses on growing connections between Europe and the rest of the world. One theme that was repeated throughout was the influence China had on the rest of the world, during the time period known to Brook as an “age of innovation” and improvisation.
Vermeer’s first painting introduced in the book, View of Delft, has many doors to the discovery of the 17th century. The harbor, bridges, building, and other objects in the painting all show some significance to
By analyzing this painting, Brook concluded that Dutch had some amount of economic activity happening. There would be no other reason to weigh silver and gold other than for economic transaction purposes thus ties in to the overall theme of global market and trade. This type of usage of silver is a big indicator of Chinese influence. Before 1681, the Netherlands, at the time Holland, used guilders exclusively as money. However, due to Chinese influence they then included silver and were able to trade more easily between other nations and exploit their