"This was a man who painted seemingly serene pictures repeatedly, capturing the calm of the moment in a house that is incredibly chaotic,'' said Firth, who studied Vermeer's work in museums. "Everybody knows what it's like in a noisy house. Everybody knows what it is to need to work, to close yourself off in a room and have the sounds going on. Everybody knows what it is like to have a bit of a secret life, a secret passion or a dream. Looking from my own vantage point, I think one of the most interesting things is that kind of creative intensity within a very earthbound domestic environment.''
Firth wouldn't reveal much about his own secret life, except to say that "you can share these things with your partner.'' He's become guarded since his first brush with fame, when paparazzi followed him home after he had purchased a vacuum cleaner. A headline in the tabs screamed, "Mr. Darcy does the household chores.....more
