If an Orlando-like epic romp through the scholarly and institutional afterlife of the painting reproduced on the cover of Ivan Gaskell’s Vermeer’s Wager: Speculations on Art History, Theory, and Art Museums is suggested by the book’s title, then this book cannot readily be judged by its cover. The cover stands a chance only once we find out what the author means by “Vermeer’s wager”: …that it is possible by means of art to embody systematic...