We are all so familiar with Vermeer’s paintings—crystalline visions of domestic life in the 17th century—that we hardly notice them anymore. But he can still surprise us if we pause and connect him to the world in which he lived. Far from being sequestered in his studio in Delft, Vermeer was hugely aware of Delft’s connections to the world and drew on those links endlessly to craft his paintings. Join a China historian as he looks at Vermeer from a global perspective.