Timothy Brook’s book, Vermeer’s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World, captures the increasing global interconnectedness during the seventeenth century by examining the artwork of the famous Dutch artist who lived during this time, and used his paintings as clues to determine the impact of the beginnings of globalization. Brook, a specialist in Chinese history, finds himself in Delft and comes across the remains of the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer and tracks down his thirty
“Vermeer’s Hat” is the title of Timothy Brook’s book. However, the hat is not the main topic of this book. What this book mainly talks about is revealed in its subtitle—the seventeenth century and the dawn of the global world. Brook uses Vermeer’s paintings to illustrate and analyze the seventeenth century’s globalization and global trade. The seventeenth century is a period in which global trade was flourishing. During this period, a great number of people and commodities overlapped and interacted
The development of national economies and trade treaties, such as: World Trade Organization and Free Trade Agreement, create opportunities for collaboration among companies from different countries. Being culturally aware will help avoid miscommunication between foreign business partners, international clients and worldwide
Vermeer’s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World delivers an interesting view of the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer’s paintings and how they open a door into the world during the seventeenth century. Painted to convey the everyday lives of his subjects, Vermeer’s canvases reveal merchant families in their homes engaging in very average actions like reading letters or talking to one another. Adversely, the author Timothy Brook uses the art Vermeer created to portray the beginning