Summary

The death of a student, Dean Merrill, prompts a math teacher, Cornelius Engelbrecht, to reflect on his own mortality and the things that will have to be settled when he dies. He invites an art teacher from the school back to his house. He shows the teacher, Richard, a painting that he claims had been painted by Johannes Vermeer, a famous Dutch painter whose canvases show remarkable skill and hold enormous value in the art world. Richard and Cornelius debate the possibility that the unsigned painting could have been painted by Vermeer, and Richard leaves. He is moved by the painting, but he is uncertain about its legitimacy. Cornelius is deeply familiar with the details of the painting, as well as the circumstances under which it was likely painted and sold—to pay a debt to the baker for two years’ worth of bread.

The voice...