Johannes Vermeer brightened his native Delft with luminous pictures of women caught in intimate moments, but the serenity of his work, of which he produced remarkably little, is at odds with a life mired in debt, as Carla Passino discovers

Edward Brooke-Hitching Simon & Schuster 978-1-398-53240-3 256pp (hb) £30 This is a fascinating compendium of classical curiosities, thoroughly researched and charmingly written by Edward Brooke-Hitchi

Andrew Graham-Dixon tells Carla Passino why he thinks we have read Vermeer wrong all along– and who the Girl with a Pearl Earring really is

© HEADER DRAWINGS BY MICHAEL HADDAD/HEART Leaves Byung-Chul ...

Works by Gesualdo & composers of Naples Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo Alessandrini; Monica Piccinini (soprano); Maria Chiara Gallo (mezzo) et al Naïve OP8677 62:13 mins Don’t be deceived – Carlo Gesualdo

The gargantuan, bewildering Louvre