02259cam a2200361 i 4500 936665822 TxAuBib 20230918120000.0 230628s2023||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u bl2023022724 9781982181741 HRD 32.50 1982181745 HRD 32.50 TxAuBib rda Cumming, Laura, author. Thunderclap [BOOK] : a memoir of art and life & sudden death / Laura Cumming. First Scribner hardcover edition. New York : Scribner, 2023. 263 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier sti rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier In 1654, an enormous explosion at a gunpowder store devasted the city of Delft, killing hundreds of people and injuring thousands more. Among those killed was the extraordinary painter Carel Fabritius, renowned for his paintings The Goldfinch and his haunting masterpiece A View of Delft, which depicts the very streets through which the victims would be carried to their graves. Fabritius’s contemporary and rival Vermeer, painter of the iconic portrait Girl with a Pearl Earring, narrowly escaped death. Framing the story around Fabritius’s life, Cumming deftly weaves a sequence of observations about paintings and how they relate to everyday life. Like Dutch art itself, the story gradually links country, city, town, street, house, interior—all the way to the bird on its perch, the blue and white tile, the smallest seed in a loaf of bread. The impact of a painting and how it can enter our thoughts, influence our views, and understanding of the world is the heart of this book. -Provided by publisher. 20230918. Fabritius, Carel 1622-1654. Cumming, James 1922-1991. Cumming, Laura Childhood and youth. Painters Netherlands. Painting, Dutch 17th century. Explosions Netherlands Delft History 17th century.