The Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer lived in relative obscurity. His death in 1675 left his wife, Catharina, in debt with 11 children to raise, and his work wasn’t rediscovered until 1842, when the French art historian Étienne-Joseph-Théophile Thoré came across the painting View of Delft at the Mauritshuis museum. Thoré’s discovery prompted a zealous search for Vermeer’s other paintings and a quest to uncover more about the extraordinary artist. Writing under the pseudonym Burger, Thoré nicknamed Vermeer the “Sphinx of Delft.” Centuries later, a veil of mystery still obscures the artist and his subjects. How did he so exquisitely capture the immaterial property of light? What were the contents of the letter in Woman Reading a Letter? In the largest Vermeer show in history, 28 of his 35 works are on view. For those who were unable to secure a ticket to the now sold-out show—or those simply wishing to re-live the experience—there is Vermeer: the Greatest Exhibition, an excellent 90-minute filmed tour of the exhibition. —Elena Clavarino