3 Listen to a short paragraph of the Episode and write it down (classwork).

Teachers’ Note:

The teacher can choose either extract to complete it in class in written form. Practise three-four listening before scripting the extract.

Extract 1

09:52 - Whatever the word on the street was, the whole family was involved. Vermeer’s uncle was imprisoned as a co-conspirator, and both sides of the family, including grandmother Neeltge, rallied round to have him bailed. Whether we should think of Balthasar as an informer, a common criminal, or even a secret agent, this would have been a grim moment in the family history.

Prison and torture – it’s the dark side of the seventeenth-century Dutch free market, the other side of the coin, and it’s as sure as hell a far cry (большая разница, как небо от земли) from Vermeer’s serene interiors.

I wondered if I could make sense of Vermeer as a man desperate to escape from the prison of his own dubious past. Art was to be his way out, and up. He became a respectable counterfeiter, a forger not of false coins, but of reality.

There may have been darkness in his family background, but he painted light. More often than not, the light is falling upon a young woman. 11:06

Extract 2

20:08 - “It’s such a seemingly simple painting, but I found that, actually, underneath it all, it’s very hard to tell what the narrative is of it. And I think what attracts me about Vermeer’s paintings is that he takes away the narrative. You know, typical Dutch paintings of that time tell you what to think, and he doesn’t, he takes out, he removes a lot of the symbols, so that you are just left with a girl’s face, and you make of it what you will. When you look at a Vermeer painting, you slow down, and you get quiet, and I think maybe it’s like a little gift you get from the painting, is that you can’t appreciate a Vermeer quickly, you look at it and it’s like, ‘whoa,’ and you stop, and you feel like you’re becoming the calm person in the painting. I always thought of him as a quiet man, that calm appeals to him, and so there’s an intensity that he can focus on that corner, and put everything into that corner. So that he’s not painting a huge market scene, the huge world, but he finds the world in that corner instead.”

4 Watch the episode again and fill in the gaps with the missing information. Write no more than three words.

.

1) 02:55 - Was there a ____________ to his perfectionism, one that could explain his __________________ and _________? I was hoping to find some answers inside the ____ ______, and in a ____________ attempt to ___________ with the locals I rented an ________________ orange bicycle.

Was there a pattern to his perfectionism, one that could explain his eventual breakdown and madness? I was hoping to find some answers inside the city walls, and in a cunning attempt to blend in with the locals I rented an exceptionally orange bicycle. (to blend in with smb– to look like smb)

2) 04:52 - For _______ _________, I went to the Delft _________, where many of the pieces of the Vermeer puzzle are to be found. And although there are only _________ forensic ___________, from them I think we can start __________ a ________________, both of the artist, and of the __________of his tragedy.

For hard evidence, I went to the Delft archives, where many of the pieces of the Vermeer puzzle are to be found. And although there are only isolated forensic (судебный) traces, from them I think we can start to build a mental picture, both of the artist, and of the nature of his tragedy. (forensic traces - methods used for finding out who is guilty of a crime)

3) 13:45 - Among his __________________ works is Diana and Her Companions, Vermeer’s only ___________________, but a very quiet, ___________ moment in a story that often ends in __________ against an _________________ presence. It has _________________ overtones: foot washing, the bowl, even the napkin, which suggests the shape of a dove, have strong catholic and ____________________. It’s a picture by a man who loved women, who loved to look at women, loved to paint them. There’s a familiar Vermeer _________ here, the feel of a __________________, which also has a certain ____________ of peace about to be _____________ .

Among his earliest surviving works is Diana and Her Companions, Vermeer’s only mythological scene, but a very quiet, contained moment in a story that often ends in violence against an intrusive male presence. It has clear religious overtones: foot washing, the bowl, even the napkin, which suggests the shape of a dove, have strong catholic and sacramental associations. It’s a picture by a man who loved women, who loved to look at women, loved to paint them. There’s a familiar Vermeer feel here, the feel of a moment of beauty, which also has a certain fragility of peace about to be disturbed.

(Sacrament - something regarded as possessing a sacred or mysterious significance; fragile - able to be broken easily; delicate; light)