marriage. Indeed, unhappy marriages and unpromising couples seem to be the norm in this book. What, according to Vreeland, constitutes an unhappy union?8. Why is scholarly Adriaan Kuypers, in the "Personal Papers" chapter, attracted to superstitious Aletta Pieters? Does Aletta's family history help to explain her irrational behavior?9. The concluding "Magdelena Looking" chapter traces the painting's subject from her wistful 14th year (when she wishes her father would paint her) to her melancholic middle age. In it, we learn that following her father's death, Magdelena marries an unimaginative saddler, moves to Amsterdam, and ends up childless. What does this sad story contribute to the viewer's understanding of the painting?10. Magdelena sells the painting for over 300 gilders. Saskia sells it for 75 gilders. Claudine sells it for 24 gilders. Today, the picture would be sold for several hundred million gilders. Given these discrepancies, what do you think Vreeland is suggesting about the monetary value of art?The novel opens in the present day when Cornelius Engelbrecht, a lonely math teacher, invites one of his colleagues from the art department to see a painting he has kept secret for decades.Though he insists it's an authentic Vermeer, a painting ready "to rock the art world," he explains vaguely, "I prefer it not be known. Security risks. I just wanted you to see it, because you can appreciate it."The art teacher leaves unconvinced, and Cornelius's dreadful paradox is unresolved. He's spent decades worshipping the painting and enduring the guilt that stains it since he first learned his father stole it from Jews he helped deport from the Netherlands.As he stares at the girl in blue, the narrator explains, "The one thing he craved, to be believed, struck at odds with the thing he most feared, to be linked by blood with his century's supreme cruelty. He'd have to risk exposure for the pure pleasure of delighting with another ... in t...
