A new way of appreciating art that puts the artwork front and centre, brought to us by one of the freshest and most exciting new voices in cultural criticism.

From the bestselling author of The Robin: A BiographyThe wren is a paradox of a bird. The wren was on postage stamps and the farthing, it featured in nursery rhymes and greetings cards, poems and rural `wren hunts', still a recent memory in Ireland particularly.

With just 35 known works, Johannes Vermeer is credited with prompting a New York Times best seller, a film starring Scarlett Johansson, and record attendances at art institutions around the world. Discover the craftsman of one of the most important portfolios in art history, in which light, textures, and a sense of unspoken secrets dazzle in their realism and intrigue.