Norbert Schneider

The Art of the Portrait focuses on about a 200-year period, from the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance, during which the genre of painted portraiture flourished. For the first time since classical antiquity, interest in and attention to this type of painting grew. As a consequence, new visual types of portraiture--full length, profiles, groups--emerged, and a wider range of subjects (outside the...

The 35 paintings that have come down to us from the hand of Jan Vermeer place him beside Rembrandt and Frans Hals as one of the great masters of the golden age of Dutch art.

Though numbering just 35 known works, the A·uvre of Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is hailed as one of the most important and inspiring portfolios in art history. His paintings have prompted a New York Times best seller, a film starring Scarlett Johansson, and record visitor numbers at art institutions from Amsterdam to Washington.Vermeer's subjects focus on daily domestic activities, from lett...