In the visual history of the western world, some images and authors have become real icons for entire generations of painters, photographers, and common people. How could they remain so vivid in our memory, defeating oblivion? What was their secret? In this essay, Max Kozloff talks about one of the most emblematic and fascinating artists of our visual tradition, Johannes Vermeer; about his XVII century Dutch interiors, plunged into a palpable and magic light; and about his ability to create refined images and atmospheres that are still able to move and seduce contemporary society. In this book, the author attempts to decipher the symbols hiding in Vermeer's paintings and to find out the secret thanks to which his works have managed to remain so popular and appreciated even today.