I've been reading the catalog for the current show at the MFA Boston, "Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer," which we hope to see in person in the next few weeks. I've also been engaging closely with several specific paintings from the Dutch Golden Age for a poetry project, soaking up the luminous light and rich colors, flirting with the complex symbolism of a past time and place, and becoming familiar with ordinary humans painted extraordinarily well.

Hours with Dutch paintings
transform the bleak afternoon--
chiaroscuro.