This is not a coffee table art book, but a slightly smaller volume with color plates. Held up to light, the rich colors truly sparkle. Vermeer is best known as a genre painter of interiors. His real subjects are women, and men are mostly portrayed as temporary intruders with definite purposes such as medical care, food for sale, or in search of love. He has one of the finest techniques in art history and his paintings have been compared to photographs. The author is an art historian who has written and lectured frequently on European art. This book is highly accessible to the general reader and gives historical detail about how Vermeer's contemporaries would have seen his work. Overall, not so much about the art of love, but a perceptive general introduction to Vermeer.