Globalization has come to be referred to as the international integration of the world through social, economic, political, and other aspects of culture. Modern society views globalization as a development of the twentieth and twenty first century due to the enormous trends recorded at the time. However, historian author Timothy Brook, the writer of “Vermeer’s Hat,” differs in opinion about the origins of this phenomenon. Brook expresses his difference in belief and ideas about the origins of globalization by studying the works of art from a veteran Dutch artist, Johannes Vermeer, thus giving readers a platform to see how the 17 th century mirrored both the past and present. This paper looks at Brook’s definition and explanation of Vermeer’s paintings and how they mirror to the multiplicity of causes and effects that have been experienced in past and present.
Brook’s book is a fascinating book that is written in the context of a period when globalization took to a new level. The book is not primarily historical, economic, or philosophical in its context but it depicts a clear understanding of each of the interdisciplinary topics. In another context, the book seems to be talking about pieces of art, but Brook is identifying paintings and relating them to the status of the world in the 1700s. The book focusses on some paintings by the great Vermeer, but Brook spends some more time on his hat which clearly explains his decision for settling for the topic “Vermeer’s Hat.” In what looks like a mere study of paintings, Brook comes in quickly to point out that they do not just represent some aspects of Dutch life at the moment but also depict a period of global change and growth.
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Why does Brook rely predominately on Johannes Vermeer’s paintings to interpret the rise of global trade in the 17th century?
Brook is able to directly relate to Vermeer’s paintings because there seems to be a motive behind some particular aspect of the paintings. At a glance, Vermeer seems to have been creating paintings that depicted the way of living of the people of Delft in the seventeenth century. Brook, however, sees this a way of understanding how the world was at that time and the changes that the world was going through. In his book, Brook says, “And if there is one theme curving through seventeenth century Delft’s complex past that every object we examine in these paintings will show, it is that Delft was not alone. It existed within a world that extended outward to the entire globe” 1 .
Brook sees that the world is changing in many ways. Being a historian, he well knows of the past happenings in the world and can note a change in direction and being around the world. It is with this kind of knowledge and information that he sees the globe on Vermeer’s pearls as a representation of the opening up of the world. He relates to this by saying that it implies that no place on earth is inaccessible. Brook says that electronic communication and increased transport, especially water transport, are some of the things that are reliable for opening up the world.
The book's title, which is seemingly obtained from the hat won by one of the men (a visiting cavalier) in one of the paintings, seems to be the center of Brook’s attention. He looks into the material of the hat which as he finds out is made of beaver and not animal skin as was common in Holland. He explains how such hats become common at the time due to their durability after which he indulges on an allusive explanation of how trade, in North America, was flourishing at the time 2 . He talks of commodities like sugar and tobacco and also discusses the African slave trade issue which was quite rampant at the time.
Brook further discusses major aspects of globalization all through the book. He discusses shipping, trade routes, and the rise of technology all through. He also highlights the use of silver as coinage in those days and how silver was valued. He also identifies that people in the past never used the coinage as a mode of trade until that century. He also discusses the increased violence at the time, especially between trading companies. Brook is further compelled to talk about the growth of Chinese trade which he relates with the Chinese dish. He says the dish was a symbol of class as it was only accessible by the wealthy at the time until it lost its value eventually to become a commodity that is acquirable by the less wealthy too.
Brook uses these paintings to create an attractive and interesting topic study on the origins of world trade and the onset of globalization that is experienced today. He believes that art is, especially ancient art is intriguing, more so when it is found to depict a hidden meaning: one that cannot be easily detected. Brook seeks to explain that the intense globalization today is as a result of the happenings of the 19th century 3 .
2. Do you agree that Vermeer’s paintings are “mirrors reflecting the multiplicity of causes and effects that have produced the past and the present” (22) or that they accurately reflect the seventeenth century as the “age of improvisation” (21)?
In light of Brook’s allusive explanations, I find some relativity in the wave of globalization that started in the 1600s-1700s and the world that is today. I would, like Brook, refer to Vermeer’s paintings as mirrors that have influenced both the present and the past, and the future too. The seventeenth century is the “age of improvisation” as Brook puts it.
First, the coinage revolution has influenced trade in the modern day and age. All through the 18th century, the use of coinage as the medium of trade started spreading. The European nations spread this new culture to other countries that they colonized. By the 19th and 20th century, coinage had already been spread worldwide, and it was the world’s sole medium of trade. Additionally, coins today are still made of silver. The coinage use also saw the growth and development of the currency notes.
Further, international trade is still rampant and much advanced today. The world has become far much connected with every corner of the world brought together by technology. People from countries in different continents can communicate together without even meeting and conduct business. Online business platforms have also been established to further international trade. The invention of the airplanes has also made international trade grow quite rampant. This is in accordance to the Vermeer’s globe on the pearls that depicted the world as a fully accessible place. Similarly, modern trade is still characterized by the bitter rivalry between nations that control world trade. Nations are still fighting over trade territories and seeking to maintain significant dominance over the others. This has from time to time spark cases of violence as each seeks to safeguard their interests.
Socialization and ethnicity spread is also present today. People move to different parts of the world, for educational purposes, business purpose, or even for holidays. They thus end up meeting and interacting with people from other areas of the world who have different cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. Nevertheless, technology has brought about the internet which has successively given birth to social networking. Social networking has brought together people from very diverse backgrounds under one platform. This has furthered interactions and improved globalization. This is a manifestation of the ethnicity spread that was experienced in the European colonialism and slave trade of the 17th century.
Moreover, most of the countries colonized by Europeans from the 1600s adopted and maintained the cultures that their colonial masters imparted on them. This can be seen dominantly through education, trade, and religion. The colonial masters introduced systems of education that are still in place today. Most of them have only been upgraded to suit relevancy of the world, but they are still influenced by the colonial master’s basic foundations. The colonialists also brought about Christianity as a religion. It is the most widespread religion in the world today, and people still embrace it. Many countries that traded in the traditional barter system forewent it for the coinage system.
In conclusion, Brook’s book is not only historical but is a piece of writing that tells more of the origins of globalization. It tells of the age that transformed the world to its present place. I find the book to be exhilarating in its mode of presentation. He presents his views in a rather different and interesting way. Critics argue that the pictures should be left for what they are, which is pieces of art, but I believe there is no harm in finding deeper meaning. Vermeer might have been inspired by the happenings of the time to come up with the paintings.
Reference
Brook, Timothy. Vermeer’s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World . New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2008.
1 Timothy Brook, Vermeer’s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World. (New York, Bloomsbury Press, 2008), 10.
2 Timothy Brook, Vermeer’s Hat, 56.
3 Timothy Brook, 210.
