Jan Vermeer | Civilisations

Duration: 2'09''

Synopsis

David Olusoga explores Jan Vermeer's life and work, a man who barely ever left the small Dutch city of Delft.

Further Information

More clips from Civilisations

6: First Contact | Civilisations

6: First Contact | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 59'07''

David Olusoga shows how art was always on the frontline when distant cultures met.

Aztec Double Headed Serpent | Civilisations

Aztec Double Headed Serpent | Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 1'29''

David Olusoga investigates the history of the Aztec Double Headed Serpent.

Benin Bronzes | Civilisations

Benin Bronzes | Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 5'35''

David Olusoga visits the Benin Bronzes at the British Museum.

El Greco | Civilisations

El Greco | Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 2'59''

David Olusoga shows how art was always on the frontline when distant cultures met.

Johan Zoffany | Civilisations

Johan Zoffany | Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 1'50''

David Olusoga explores Johan Zoffany's work, which portrays a rare moment seen in the art of the time, depicting British traders cavorting with...

Maria Sibylla Merian | Civilisations

Maria Sibylla Merian | Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 2'01''

David Olusoga considers how Maria Sibylla Merian made use of her move to Amsterdam to promote her detailed naturalist artwork.

Maruyama Okyo | Civilisations

Maruyama Okyo | Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 2'47''

David Olusoga considers how Maruyama Okyo divided the line between Western and Eastern art with his masterpiece, ''Cracked Ice''.

Nanban Screens | Civilisations

Nanban Screens | Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 1'48''

David Olusoga shows how art was always on the frontline when distant cultures met.

More resources about Art and Design

S1E4: West Africa | Lost Kingdoms of Africa

S1E4: West Africa | Lost Kingdoms of Africa

BBC Four | 2010 | 48'51''

Gus Casely-Hayford travels to Nigeria and Mali to explore the story behind a series of magnificent 16th-century bronzes made in t...

Propaganda films | Age of the Image

Propaganda films | Age of the Image

BBC Four | 2020 | 4'39''

James Fox explains the method in which propaganda was created to advertise Nazism.

1: Liberty, Diversity, Depravity | The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour

1: Liberty, Diversity, Depravity | The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour

BBC Four | 2014 | 58'56''

In 18th century England, out of the Age of Enlightenment came a Gothic obsession with monsters ...

Charles is Executed | Charles I's Treasure Reunited

Charles is Executed | Charles I's Treasure Reunited

BBC Two | 2018 | 3'27''

Brenda Emmanus discusses the execution of Charles I.

1: Ghosts in the Machine | The Genius of Design

1: Ghosts in the Machine | The Genius of Design

BBC HD | 2010 | 58'37''

The story of the birth of industrial design, from celebrated names to the work of anonymous designers responsible for prosaic...

Benin Bronzes | Civilisations

Benin Bronzes | Civilisations

BBC Four | 2018 | 5'35''

David Olusoga visits the Benin Bronzes at the British Museum.

1: The Man Who Wanted to Know Everything | Leonardo

1: The Man Who Wanted to Know Everything | Leonardo

BBC One | 2003 | 59'35''

Dramatised reconstruction of the life of Leonardo da Vinci. Documentary examining the life of Leonardo da Vinci, from his...

2: Andreas Vesalius | The Beauty of Anatomy

2: Andreas Vesalius | The Beauty of Anatomy

BBC Four | 2014 | 29'10''

Adam Rutherford tells the story of 16th-century anatomist Andreas Vesalius, who produced the first complete account of the human ...

2: The City and the Soul | The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour

2: The City and the Soul | The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour

BBC Four | 2014 | 58'59''

As the Industrial Revolution promised more inexplicable wonders of the modern world, Gothic art and lit...

Anatomy in Tudor Britain | The Beauty of Anatomy

Anatomy in Tudor Britain | The Beauty of Anatomy

BBC Four | 2014 | 2'49''

Adam Rutherford explains how Vesalius' anatomy had reached and was being used in Tudor England.

Cobalt mining incidents | Panorama

Cobalt mining incidents | Panorama

BBC One | 2021 | 2'12''

Miners tell their stories of accidents and the working conditions in the cobalt mines of Kolwezi, DRC.

Episode 1 | Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty

Episode 1 | Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty

BBC Two | 2024 | 59'17''

Michelangelo and Leonardo struggle to make their reputations in the brutal world of Renaissance Italy, as both must play a ...

4: The Hunter Brothers | The Beauty of Anatomy

4: The Hunter Brothers | The Beauty of Anatomy

BBC Four | 2014 | 29'12''

How the Hunter brothers transformed medicine and art in 18th-century Britain, believing that anatomy could only be learnt by p...

Charles I's Treasure Reunited

Charles I's Treasure Reunited

BBC Two | 2018 | 59'08''

Brenda Emmanus explores the art collection of Charles I, much of which is being reunited for a unique exhibition for the first time since his e...

Early anatomy theatre | The Beauty of Anatomy

Early anatomy theatre | The Beauty of Anatomy

BBC Four | 2014 | 3'23''

Adam Rutherford visits one of the very few surviving original anatomy theatres in the world.

Florence Nightingale's rose diagram | The Beauty of Diagrams

Florence Nightingale's rose diagram | The Beauty of Diagrams

BBC Four | 2010 | 1'25''

Florence Nightingale's revolutionary and controversial rose diagram showed that hospitals, as they were, could k...

The Industrial Revolution | Civilisations

The Industrial Revolution | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 3'04''

David Olusoga the social, cultural and scientific changes of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, as depicted in art.

01: Home | Everyday Miracles: The Genius of Sofas, Stockings and Scanners

01: Home | Everyday Miracles: The Genius of Sofas, Stockings and Scanners

BBC Four | 2014 | 58'37''

Mark Miodownik shows that some of the everyday objects that are often taken for granted are in fact...

2: Love and Loss | Becoming Frida Kahlo

2: Love and Loss | Becoming Frida Kahlo

BBC Two | 2023 | 59'01''

Now married and living in 1930s America, Frida sees the ugly side of capitalism, while political scandal engulfs Diego. Miscarriage a...

Banksy: The Mystery

Banksy: The Mystery

BBC News | 2024 | 24'32''

Money, art, politics: what we know about how the secret Banksy empire works.

More from David Olusoga

Number 10 Guinea Street in Bristol | A House Through Time

Number 10 Guinea Street in Bristol | A House Through Time

BBC Two | 2020 | 5'22''

David Olusoga begins his investigation into the history of number 10 Guinea street in Bristol.

4: Union and Disunion | Union with David Olusoga

4: Union and Disunion | Union with David Olusoga

BBC Two | 2023 | 59'33''

The 20th century sees partition in Ireland. A sense of national unity emerges in the aftermath of the Second World War, but ...

The Development of Anti-Retroviral Drugs to Treat HIV | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer

The Development of Anti-Retroviral Drugs to Treat HIV | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer

BBC Four | 2021 | 4'14''

The story of how Professor David Ho worked in a team to develop the firs...

The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files

The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files

BBC Two | 2019 | 58'55''

How black immigrants who made Britain their home came face to face with the government's 'hostile environment'. David Olusoga exposes...

8: The Cult of Progress | Civilisations

8: The Cult of Progress | Civilisations

BBC Two | 2018 | 59'00''

David Olusoga explores the artistic reaction to imperialism in the 19th century.

Kitchener and British Empire Historiography | A Timewatch Guide

Kitchener and British Empire Historiography | A Timewatch Guide

BBC Four | 2017 | 3'35''

David Olusoga explains how perceptions of empire have shifted throughout different generations.

Independent slave traders in Britain | Black and British: A Forgotten History

Independent slave traders in Britain | Black and British: A Forgotten History

BBC Two | 2016 | 3'37''

David Olusoga investigates the British independent slave owners.

The beginnings of the British slave trade | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

The beginnings of the British slave trade | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

BBC Two | 2015 | 3'23''

David Olusoga investigates the beginnings of the British slave trade in Barbados.

French troops from Sub-Saharan West Africa | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire

French troops from Sub-Saharan West Africa | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire

BBC Two | 2014 | 4'06''

David Olusoga investigates the WW1 experiences of French troops from Sub-Saharan W...