Timothy Brook Vermeer's Hat

In the book Vermeer’s Hat by Timothy Brook, he takes us on a sort of adventure back through time in the seventeenth century through these seven paintings of Johannes Vermeer. Brook does this hoping to show us a few things about the economy and cultural changes, along with how the other countries are adapting. In the book Vermeer’s Hat by Timothy Brook, he takes us through the seventeenth century bringing out the economic and cultural changes, the influence on the European world, and the influence on China.
To start us off, we can begin talking about the economic and culture changes back in the seventeenth century. First we can start off with tobacco and how it has changed. Tobacco was first introduced by the Native Americans. They used tobacco
The Europeans were influenced heavily during this time period. When the trade routes to China are up and running one of the important things that they gained was porcelain. Porcelain became very popular among the Europeans. Earlier in the book, the painting showing a military officer in a sitting room talking to a laughing girl is one of the ways Brook’s shows this. For example, the woman is actually laughing and being able to communicate back with the soldier. In text it says, “Custom did not tolerate private meetings between the wooer and the wooed.” (Brook 27) Usually the women are expected to sit back under control not being able to talk to the men of their choice or socialize publically. They were told who and when they were getting married. This shows how evolved their culture was becoming. The roles are taking a switch between men and women in relationships. this reversal can also show the reversal in government such as “monarchy to republicanism, Catholicism to Calvinism, merchant house to corporation, empire to nation, and war to trade.” (Brook 29) Also, in the same painting the soldier is showed wearing a huge hat made of beaver pelt. This is unusual in this day because it usually represents higher social class. Beaver was hard to come by and also expensive. To see a soldier wearing this you can see how the trade routes are affecting European culture. People are focusing more on how they are presented now that they have the opportunity. Europe was constantly trying to discover the new things of the new world. They thrived to explore, venture out and try out all the different things they were finding. This was a change from the