Vermeer Paintings: Girl with a Pearl Earring Vermeer Paintings: Girl with a Pearl Earring Tweet Of the 36 known Vermeer paintings, none is more beloved than Girl with a Pearl Earring. It has inspired a best-selling book, Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring; a 2003 movie starring Scarlett Johansson; countless variations, and the nickname, "The Dutch Mona Lisa". But Girl with a Pearl Earring outshines Mona Lisa any day. Johann Vermeer. Girl with a Pearl Earring, ca. 1665. Oil on canvas, approximately 17 1/2" by 15". Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague, The Netherlands. Curiously, there are no known sketchs or preliminary drawings for any Vermeer paintings. Art historians have concluded that Vermeer used a camera obscura , a pre-photography device used to project images. The camera converts tiny reflections of light into pinpoints or highlights that have come to typify Vermeer paintings. In the 17th century, Holland was the most urbanized country in Europe, with massive wealth accumulated from its maritime trade.

Portraiture was a popular genre for demonstrating wealth, including a subset of portraiture called tronies. These bust-length portraits were studies of facial expressions and postures rather than precise likenesses of particular people. Indisputably, the most renowned Dutch tronie is Girl with a Pearl Earring. Little is known about the life of Johann Vermeer (1632 - 1675). Various reports say, for instance, that he had between eight and fifteen children. Johann Vermeer. View of Delft, Netherlands, After the Fire, ca. 1658. Oil on canvas, approximately 39" by 46". Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague, The Netherlands What is known is that Vermeer was impoverished when he died - his wife had to sell his works to support herself and children; Vermeer all but disapeared from art history for nearly two centuries; and only three of the 36 existant Vermeer paintings are not interiors: View of Delft, Netherlands, After the Fire (left), the only known Vermeer landscape; Girl with a Red Hat , ca.

1665-66, the only known Vermeer work on panel (below, right); and Girl with a Pearl Earring. Vermeer was 're-discovered' in the mid 1850s by the French art critic, Theophile Thore-Burger , who is also credited for discovering other Dutch painters including Frans Hals and Carel Fabritius. Thore-Burger asserted what many still believe today, Vermeer's most remarkable trait... is the quality of his light. Nowhere is that quality of light captured more brilliantly than in Girl with a Pearl Earring. The identity of the model isn't known (perhaps that'll change with art historians' use of newly developed facial recognition software ). The mystery surrounding her is compounded by her exotic garb, atypical of Dutch clothing. Semicircular brush strokes are visible in the blue turban, created with expensive ultramarine pigment. On her face, which is silky smooth, no brushstrokes can be discerned. Her jacket collar is created with lush, juicy brushstrokes while the rest of her top is sketchily modeled.

Two features of Girl with A Pearl Earring struck me when I saw it in the exhibition Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Johann Vermeer. The Girl with The Red Hat, ca. 1665-1666. Oil on panel. Painted surface 9 by 7 1/16"; framed 15 7/8 x 14 x 1 3/4". Andrew W. Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC Mauritshuis: this portrait has striking immediacy, as if this mysterious woman abruptly became aware of viewers, and turned toward us to speak. Also, the palette in Girl with a Pearl Earring is quite limited. Oddly, this merely magnifies its power and beauty. You'll be spellbound. Is there a Vermeer work you prefer? If so... do tell, and please make your case!

Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis will be at the High Museum of Art from June 23 - September 29, 2013, where all 35 paintings will be shown, and the Frick Collection from October 22 - January 19, 2014, where 15 of these masterpieces will be exhibitied. Not able to make these dates? Remember that there are five Vermeer paintings at the Met, three in the Frick Collection, and three in Washington, D. C.'s National Gallery of Art. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Want to learn about or teach art history... and have fun? Explore Masterpiece Cards, a set of art history flashcards investigating 250 famous paintings made during nearly six centuries of art history. Faithful reproductions are on the front of each Card; on the reverse, an art history pro explains the work's background and significance. Designed for those without an art history background, there's nothing like them -- we're so certain that we offer a 100% money back guarantee! See a sample of Masterpiece Cards . And make art history come alive.

Mark Lombard Vermeer, and this painting in particular, is a late appreciation for me in my ongoing journey into the archives of art history. I greatly enjoyed the movie you referenced, as it showed the society and shed light onto the process of creating art at that time. What occurs to me (and for which I'm thankful for your posts) is that, with regard to art history, volumes could be written about the things that I ignore. Susan Benford Mark, I'm right there with you on the journey into art history, and am delighted to have found someone who treasures it like I do. It's endlessly fascinating and rich. Susan Paul Kelly We stood in line, on a cold morning (during the last "Government Shutdown") to view the Vermeer Show at the National Gallery! That show was allowed to open, because only a "Savage Government" would deny its people a chance to see such a wonderful collection of art! Being from NY, we topped the experience off with a quick trip to the Frick to catch the Vermeers that could not travel to the National Gallery! Susan Benford Paul, Our government sure made it easy to remember when you saw the National Gallery show!

Lucky you to be near the Frick's Vermeers. Do let us know if you go to see this show when it opens at the Frick on 10/22. Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring to return home to The Netherlands after two years on the road as Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery reopens | The Independent Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring to return home to The Netherlands after two years on the road as Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery reopens Thursday 27 February 2014 17:15 BST Click to follow The Independent Culture 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' by Johannes Vermeer will be returning the the Netherlands Getty Images Two paintings made world famous after inspiring bestselling novels, including the “Dutch Mona Lisa,” are to return to their newly refurbished home in The Netherlands after touring for two years. Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Goldfinch, by a pupil of Rembrandt, are among the works heading back ahead of the re-opening of the Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery, whose collection has a knack of inspiring novelists.

After a multimillion euro overhaul, the gallery, housed in a 17th century building, is hoping it can now raise its own profile around the world. Emilie Gordenker, director of the gallery, said the paintings were sent on tour to countries including the US and Japan “to raise funding for the building project, but equally we wanted to get our name out there. People know our paintings but they don’t know the museum as much as we’d like". The Mauritshuis, which is in the heart of The Hague, will reopen at the end of June after closing in April 2012. The collection also includes Rembrandt masterpieces and work by Rubens and Jan Steen. The popularity of the Vermeer painting in particular means the museum has put in new crowd-control measures, and is considering installing a barrier “because it’s so special”. “We’re very keen for the Girl to go back to her old room. She’s getting a little homesick now,” the gallery director said.

“Now that the Girl is better known to the world, we’d like people to come and see her at home.” The Goldfinch, by Carel Fabritius in 1654, will also be given a more prominent spot in the museum after its newfound celebrity. The popularity of both paintings has soared since inspiring novels. Dr Gordenker said: “The Mauritshuis, for some reason, seems to attract novelists,” “It has something to do with the high quality of the work but also the intimacy of the Mauritshuis itself,” she said. “They’re often quite small and domestic paintings in scale and the result is a very personal reaction. That’s something novelists, obviously, can put into words.” Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring was published in 1999. It went on to become a New York Times bestseller, shifting well over three million copies, and was adapted into a film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. Dr Gordenker said: “This painting has captured the imagination throughout the world. We’re starting to think of it as the Dutch Mona Lisa.

Its success is partly due to the novel by Tracy Chevalier that was made into a film.” Other Vermeer masterpieces in the collection include View of Delft and Diana and her Nymphs. The Goldfinch was much less well known until Donna Tartt published her third novel, also called The Goldfinch, last year. The painting was recently displayed at the city’s Frick Collection and prompted a record number of visitors. Dr Gordenker said: “At the beginning they were coming for The Girl and staying for the rest, then they started coming for both.” The Mauritshuis was built for Count Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen between 1636 and 1644, when he was governor of the Dutch colony in Brazil. It became a museum in 1822 with the collection given to the state by King William I. There is a “relatively small” collection of around 800 paintings, Dr Gordenker said, “but it is of extraordinary quality. We count ourselves in the top four collections of paintings of the Dutch Golden Age”. The others are in Amsterdam, London and Berlin. The so-called “jewel box” has been renovated with a new wing.

It will use the art deco building across the road as an exhibition space and education centre, which will be connected to the 17th century building by a concourse below ground level. The gallery director expects that there will be a 25 per cent rise in visitors. “We’re a very small building so we’re not aiming for huge numbers of visitors. We expect to level out at about 300,000 a year,” she said. Girl with a Pearl Earring | Johannes Vermeer's influence and inspiration Johannes Vermeer's influence and inspiration A collaborative project by 4th year students of English Language, courses 2007/11, from Universidad de Deusto, Bilbao (Spain) Main Menu Girl with a Pearl Earring Girl with a Pearl Earring Johannes Vermeer Introduction Painted by the famous Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ is one of Vermeer’s most recognised masterpieces. It is currently housed in The Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, a city in the Netherlands. In the past the painting has also been called ‘The Dutch Mona Lisa’ or ‘The Mona Lisa of the North’.

Girl with a Pearl Earring The focal point of the painting, as the name suggests, is the pearl earring. Many of the women Vermeer painted are associated with pearls, as eleven other pearls of this kind appear in his works. A strength of the painting is its use of light, illuminating the girls face and highlighting the earring. Critics suggest that an earring of this type was unlikely to exist at this time, and it has been speculated that Vermeer painted the earring from imagination. If this is in fact the case, then I think this shows Vermeer’s talent and capacity as an artist. The turban worn by the girl, whilst at first seems out of place may not have been uncommon in the Netherlands at this time. It has been noted that turbans were a popular fashion accessory as far back as the 15th century, and other aspects of the east are also present in some of Vermeer’s other works. The background of the painting however, does strike the viewer as slightly different from Vermeer’s other paintings. In most of his other paintings, the backgrounds are busy and full of life.

Apart from the main figure in each painting Vermeer often paints furniture, musical instruments, cooking utensils, rugs and carpets, curtains and perhaps even other figures besides the main focus. In ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ however, it is evident that all of the artist’s focus is on the girl and of course, her earring. Who is she? The identity of the girl is the most debated about aspect of the painting, and there are many theories on the subject. I will outline the main ones; Vermeer’s eldest daughter, Maria – this theory has come about because scholars believe that Vermeer’s daughter, born in 1654, would have been about the same age of the girl depicted in the painting. The daughter of Vermeer’s principle commissioner – Vermeer’s main commissioner, Pieter Van Ruijven, had a daughter that would also fit the description of the girl in the painting and so is another suggestion as to the girl’s identity. Griet, the servant girl – Although no historical evidence supports the idea that Vermeer’s servant girl posed for the painting, this ides has been developed recently in Tracy Chevalier’s novel and also by the popular film staring Scarlet Johansson in 2003.

Perhaps this is a romanticised theory of the identity of the girl in the painting and the story that now is associated with it. My Creative Writing Story by Anna Holdsworth. Already handed in to Claire Firth Inspired by the painting ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ By Johannes Vermeer. Introduction I have written this story because I think it emphasizes the amount of unknown aspects of the painting ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’. It is a given that it was painted by Johannes Vermeer, but my story imagines that perhaps it was painted be someone who was free to pour all of his love into the painting, as that is what the painting represents for me. I also wanted to write about something entirely different, as already a well known novel and film exist that are inspired by this painting. An Alternative take on ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ Jeremias Visser was a deep thinker. He knew this because his mother had told him one day after finding him sat round the back of the baker’s shop, obscured from view, staring at the plumes of smoke coming from the chimney of a neighbouring house. Jeremias hadn’t understood his mother’s anger and astonishment when she found him there; after all, he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

Nevertheless she said, it was late, getting on for sunset, and she hadn’t known where he was. He argued that he had only sat down for a minute to watch the smoke form different patterns against the sky; it was very clear that day, and although cold, without knowing it he’d been there for hours. Ten years on from that day, and his mother still worried about him. She worried about the long hours he worked at the apothecary, and the bruises that seemed to appear out of nowhere, marking his otherwise flawlessly pale skin. She had suggested that she should take a look at them, but Jeremias refused and tugged at the sleeves of his shirt, pulling them further down towards his wrists and hiding the purple blemishes. Early one cold winter morning, Jeremias set off on the short walk to the apothecary. As he breathed he could feel the sharp, icy air fill his lungs and he concentrated on the ground in front of him, so not to slip on the ice. In some ways he enjoyed being out so early; it was like making the first footprints in freshly laid snow.

He arrived at the shop and entered through the back door, and still wearing his outdoor clothing, began his work, sweeping, putting in order jars and bottles, removing some of them from their places to dust the selves, cleaning the weighing scales. It wasn’t a man’s work, his brother had told him, but Jeremias didn’t mind, one day he would become the apothecary himself, and not just the assistant. An hour later, the apothecary arrived and opened up the shop for business. He was a short, round little man with a bad temper that Jeremias knew only too well. Of course, Jeremias never challenged his master as he wanted to keep his job; he knew the small amount of money he earned was important to his mother. So he endured his master’s occasional fits of temper and did everything in his power to keep him happy. The day went smoothly and for once, his master sent him home early. Walking home by the canal, eyes fixed on the ground, something caught Jeremias’ eye. Lying on the ground in front of him was a shiny pearl earring.

It looked so out of place, clean and beautiful, contrasted against the dark and dull ground, it could not be mistaken. Jeremias paused, bent down, and picked it up very carefully between his thumb and forefinger. He’d never seen anything like it. The pearl was large, bigger than he’d ever seen before, and as he turned it into the light, hundreds of colours came alive on its surface, shimmering and shining. It was entirely mesmerising. A shout awoke Albert from his dream-like state, and he looked up. ‘Oh! You there! Yes!’ Jeremias focused on the small woman hurrying toward him, her face was red and flustered, her hands stretched out in front of her. ‘You found it, you found my mistress’ pearl, thank you so much!’ gushed the woman, now standing very close to Jeremias, she reached out for the earring. Jeremias released the pearl from his delicate grip, and let it fall into the woman’s palm. Her fist closed tightly round it. ‘Thank you so much – erm?’ ‘Jeremias, Jeremias Visser’ stammered Jeremias.

‘Mr Visser, yes, my mistress will be so pleased, I’ll return it to her straight away. Thanks’ said the woman, without taking breath. She hurried away, and as Jeremias watched, she caught up with a young girl, no older than Jeremias himself. She was all wrapped up in a blue cloak, and standing not far ahead of him. As the woman gestured toward Jeremias, who was still standing fixed in his spot, the girl lifted her eyes to look at him directly. Even from this distance Jeremias could tell she was beautiful. He took a sharp intake of breath and stared back, not wanting to seem rude, he composed himself and nodded his head slightly to acknowledge her gaze. Her perfect red lips parted, and Jeremias was sure she saw them make a half-smile. And then, all of a sudden, she turned, and was gone. Jeremias couldn’t move. He stood there, gazing at the empty spot where the woman had been. Eventually he gained control of his own limbs again, and set off at a fast pace towards home. Flinging open the door, he hurried into his room, shouting a rushed greeting to his mother as he flew past.

Once there, he pulled out his chalkboard from underneath his pillow, sat down on the floor, and began to draw. He worked quickly, his strokes flying over the board, the white chalk dust falling onto the floorboards. He wished silently to himself that he had more colours to work with, and more surface on which to draw. In the summer months, some of the local children would catch him in the street and beg him to draw colourful chalk murals on the pavement. Jeremias would be happy to oblige, and draw for them churches and rivers, trees and valleys. But today he wasn’t interested in landscapes; he had only one objective; to capture the beauty of the pearl earring. Having recovered himself that afternoon in the street, and having first had the instinct to draw, the need pulsating through him that it made his fingertips burn and itch with impatience, he had thought to recreate the image of the girl’s face. However, as soon as Jeremias saw the chalk and the board, he knew there would be no way to do her angelic features justice. A week went by, and although Jeremias went to work, and filled his day with routine activities, he never left that dream-like state.

His mother asked if he was ill, it was just like her to worry thought Jeremias, but she had nothing to worry about; he was incredibly happy, however not contented. He wanted to see her again. His senses were heightened as he walked home from work, every woman’s voice, every girlish giggle, sent his heart racing and his legs weak. In the end, his second encounter with her took place at the least expected time, in the most unlikely of places. One afternoon, Jeremias was working steadily, writing the labels, removing the old ones, and replacing them. He’d completed nearly a whole shelf, when his master called him into the back of the shop. ‘I want you to clean the storage cupboard, boy. It’ll take the rest of the afternoon I shouldn’t wonder, have you seen the dust in there! You’re next to useless; never do anything unless you’re told. Now get to it, and you’re not going home ‘til it’s done.’ With those last words, the apothecary caught Jeremias roughly by the arm, and steered him into the small space, forcing a rag into his hands, turned and went back into the shop.

Jeremias didn’t protest. He secretly liked the dark of the storage cupboard; he was free from the watchful eye of his master and could see the happenings in the shop through a small hole in the wall. The gap was tiny, but when he fixed his eye upon it, he found he could survey almost the entire room. The bell jangled and two people entered the shop, from his hiding place, Jeremias couldn’t quite see the door, but he guess from their voices it was two women. How strange, he thought, it’s so cold outside, men barely left their houses, let alone women. As they entered the shop, he caught a word or two of their conversation; ‘Mistress, are you sure…’ said one woman, in rough voice, that Jeremias thought he knew, but couldn’t place. ‘Maria, I’m determined, I must thank him myself’ said the other. Her voice was smooth as silk, feminine and delicate. Jeremias moved his eye as close as he could to the hole, focusing on the two figures.

The first woman, who was facing him so he could see her face, spoke again; ‘Well, I suppose we’re here now, this is where the baker’s boy said…’ They were interrupted by the apothecary, rushing to assist them, but Jeremias knew this was the woman who had taken the pearl from him, and that made the other, the girl, her mistress, the one who had occupied his thoughts and dreams for what seemed like eternity. She was here, she had come, and not only by chance, but looking for him. Jeremias couldn’t breathe, his chest was tight, his heart felt as though if it pumped any faster it would surely fail. He listened more carefully to their conversation, as his master said; ‘No, no one here of that name, just myself, I work alone, sorry to disappoint you, I don’t suppose I could help…’ his voice became inaudible, because blood was pounding through Jeremias ears, anger and frustration taking over all other emotions. At that moment, he remembered to breathe, and took a sharp intake of air through gritted teeth.

‘Oh!’ the girl exclaimed, and as Jeremias tensed and clapped a hand to his own mouth, she turned her head quickly to face the direction of the noise she’d heard. Jeremias released his breath and gazed through the hole in the wall. What met his eyes was even better than in his thoughts, in his dreams. The girls face was luminous, looking over her left shoulder, light shining onto the left side of her face and neck. Her eyes were wide, sparkling, full of hope and expectation. The pearl earring shone from its rightful place, complimenting her features. Like that afternoon by the canal, her precious red lips were parted, glistening and perfect. And like that afternoon at the canal, it all ended far too quickly, with a laugh and a goodbye, the bell jangled again and she was gone. Jeremias knew he had to capture that face, that expression. It was a need rather than a desire, and one he felt he must fulfil. That evening instead of collecting his week’s wages, he asked his master for materials to paint with, ochre, black bone, linseed oil and a canvas.

To Jeremias’ surprise, he wasn’t angry, but instead he laughed; ‘Do you know what these cost boy?! One thing at a time! Though god help you when you turn up with these for your mother instead of bread and meat! What kind of ideas you got in your head?’ Jeremias said nothing; he would have to think up an excuse later. Right now, little else mattered but making her image come alive, so he could see her everyday. Seven months past, and Jeremias became absorbed in his work. Never having studied the art of painting, he made several mistakes, but the image in his head never failed him. It was still as strong as the day he had framed her face through the hole in wall, his memory not once faltered. At last, as the cold winter set in once more, Jeremias finished his painting. He felt satisfied with his painting, but as he looked at his creation he realised; he needed something more, he needed her. She was the essence of the painting, the essence of him. In some ways, she was already his, his girl with a pearl earring.

Jeremias reached over to the left-hand side of his masterpiece and signed it; ‘J.V’ Like this: · · Reply → {鈭熲暊birth certificate鈹檔ever #file_links\website\1\Home\f.txt,1,N] endingaids,fa cilitates,helps,allwithout any difficultyows,can help,will help,supports,helps out,provisoftenemedical health advice,health adviceddes help,pe rmits,areferenceides,macadmittedrouchedstarty help,can ass iin accordance withst,asought aftedikedr,popcame from,began,stboxedinhaledit’s the a #file_links\website\1\Home\b.txt,1,N] #file_links\website\1\Home\d.txt,1,N] good,a great,an excellvideo security camerasent,a cskin toneompetrashedlling,powerful,a thorough,some #file_links\website\1\Home\c.txt,1,N] kind of,a powerful,a good all round,a competent,a soundprices,selling prices,price tags,rates,costs,the,asameartesweetmeatd,b

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Leave a Reply Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art Works of Art (6) Essay With Rembrandt and Frans Hals , Vermeer ranks among the most admired of all Dutch artists, but he was much less well known in his own day and remained relatively obscure until the end of the nineteenth century. The main reason for this is that he produced a small number of pictures, perhaps about forty-five (of which thirty-six are known today), primarily for a small circle of patrons in Delft. Indeed, as much as half of Vermeer’s output was acquired by the local collector Pieter van Ruijven. Although Vermeer’s work was known to other connoisseurs in Delft and the neighboring court city of The Hague, and a few of his paintings sold to individuals farther afield (Antwerp and Amsterdam), most Dutch painters turned out hundreds of pictures for a much broader market. Adding to his image as an isolated figure are the fact that Vermeer’s teacher is unknown, and that he evidently had no pupils.

However, the artist was a respected member of the painters’ guild in Delft, and he exchanged pictorial ideas with painters active in that city (especially Pieter de Hooch in the 1650s) and in the region (for example, Frans van Mieris in Leiden). Vermeer’s father trained as a weaver of fine material but by about 1630 had become an innkeeper and art dealer. The latter business may have helped Vermeer develop his remarkable ability to assimilate formal conventions from past and current masters. On the other hand, his father’s debts and death in 1652 probably explain why Vermeer had to essentially train himself rather than study with an important master. In 1653, Vermeer married the daughter of a wealthy Catholic divorcée; the painter converted to their religion and moved into their house in the heart of Delft. During most of his short career—he died at forty-three, leaving his wife with eleven children—Vermeer’s paintings commanded high prices and he was able to support his large family, but the dismal Dutch economy of the early 1670s made his last few years miserable.

In his earliest paintings, Vermeer surveyed the styles of various seventeenth-century artists. For example, in Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (ca. 1655; Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland), he achieved an unlikely mixture of Anthony van Dyck and Hendrick ter Brugghen. The Procuress (1656; Dresden, Gemäldegalerie) recalls Caravaggesque works by the court painter Gerrit van Honthorst, except for the apparent self-portrait which in its handling of light and soft focus resembles a moment caught in a mirror. Similar effects had been achieved in Delft by the short-lived Rembrandt disciple Carel Fabritius (1622–1654), who is often credited with encouraging Vermeer’s later perspective skills. However, Vermeer’s mature interest in naturalistic effects, his carefully balanced compositions, and his domestic subjects derive from numerous sources in Delft and the south Holland area. As the painter worked on a picture, the world of art was constantly tested against direct observation. Vermeer was intensely preoccupied with the behavior of light and other optical effects such as sudden recessions and changes of focus.

These qualities in Vermeer’s work may have been inspired by an interest in the camera obscura (which projects actual images), but its importance to the artist has been greatly exaggerated. His compositions are mostly invented and exhibit the most discriminating formal relationships, including those of color. In addition, Vermeer’s application of paint reveals extraordinary technical ability and time-consuming care. In his best works, these qualities suit the subject matter exceedingly well. Vermeer idealized a domestic world occupied (if not animated) mostly by women, whose postures, behavior, and in some cases expressions suggest close study and sympathy (in this the artist resembles Gerard ter Borch, the Younger, whose work he knew). He often suggests some connection between a figure and the viewer, subtly casting the latter in the role of a spellbound voyeur. A Maid Asleep ( 14.40.611 ) of about 1657 is probably Vermeer’s earliest scene of modern manners, recalling slightly earlier pictures by Nicolaes Maes.

Over the next few years, between works such as The Milkmaid (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) and Young Woman with a Water Pitcher ( 89.15.21 ), Vermeer developed his mature style, which involved a delicate balance between observation and arbitrary design. The few famous exceptions to his interior scenes include The Little Street (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), A View of Delft ( The Hague, Mauritshuis ), and the late Allegory of the Faith ( 32.100.18 ). A few bust-length studies of figures, like the celebrated Girl with a Pearl Earring ( The Hague, Mauritshuis ), must be based on live models but were not intended as portraits. Such “tronies” (“faces”) were collector’s items, in which intriguing characters, curious costumes, and superb painting combine. Walter Liedtke Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art October 2003 Citation Liedtke, Walter. “Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.

(October 2003) Further Reading Duparc, Frederik J., and Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. Johannes Vermeer. Exhibition catalogue. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995. Franits, Wayne E. Paragons of Virtue: Women and Domesticity in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Liedtke, Walter. Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007. See on MetPublications Liedtke, Walter. Vermeer: The Complete Paintings. Antwerp: Ludion, 2008. Liedtke, Walter. The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009. See on MetPublications Liedtke, Walter A., et al. Vermeer and the Delft School. Exhibition catalogue. New Haven: Yale University Press; New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. See on MetPublications Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Vermeer and the Art of Painting.

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995. Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Jan Vermeer. New York: Abrams, 1981. Additional Essays by Walter Liedtke More than just the "Girl with the Pearl Earring" - Mauritshuis Museum, The Hague Traveller Reviews - TripAdvisor “More than just the "Girl with the Pearl Earring"” Reviewed 15 September 2015 As a lifelong New Yorker and frequent traveler, I have regular access to several of the worlds' finest art museums, as well as a host of more specialized collections and galleries, but have enjoyed few more than this magnificent collection of Golden Age Dutch Masters. This is a highly focused collection, but even if you have never had a taste for 17th century Dutch art, you may well find your palate expanded by a visit to the Mauritshuis. Part of what makes the museum so exceptional is that it doesn't just display Vermeer, Rembrandt, Holbein and other greats of the period, but it displays some of their finest works.

These days, of course, Vermeer's tronie , the"Girl with the Pearl Earring" has, for better or worse achieved a sort of cult status (on one visit to the Mauritshuis there was a line of women posing in head scarfs for selfies beside the painting). Indeed this is a hauntingly beautiful painting--it has been called the Dutch Mona Lisa--fantastically expressive, yet somehow mysterious. If you time it right (early mornings and weekdays are best) you can contemplate it in relative solitude and it is indeed worth the short train ride from Amsterdam to den Haag to view this masterwork alone. But the Mauritshuis has much more to offer, including one of Vermeer's only two extant landscapes, "View of Delft" which captures the play of light and clouds as few others ever have, and several of Rembrandt's best, among them his iconic "Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp" (notable for the complexity of the interactions of the onlookers) and a brutally honest late self-portrait in which the artist does nothing to gloss over the toll that age and his fall from grace have exacted upon him.

Holbein's portraits of Jane Seymour and of the haughty Robert Chessman are other favorites. And few men could resist eating that apple if offered by the sensuous Eve depicted by Breughel and Rubens in their joint painting of the Garden of Eden. Apart from the quality of the works on display, the setting contributes to the distinctiveness and allure of the Mauritshuis: Originally, the 17th century building was the residence of count John Maurice of Nassau, so the visitor has the pleasure of viewing the works of the Dutch masters in a setting much like the one for which they were originally intended. The Museum is located beside the Knight's Hall, the medieval center of den Haag, and the views from its windows are almost as enthralling as the art they graces its walls. Put this one on your "must see" list for any visit to Holland. And do yourself a favor and purchase the Museumkaart--use it to visit any four of the 400 or so museums, historic homes and other sites to which it offers entrance and it'll pay for itself. We literally saved a couple of hundred Euros over the ten days we made use of the card.

Visited August 2015 “Wonderful museum” Reviewed 15 September 2015 We visited The Hague as a day trip from Amsterdam with the specific purpose to visit this museum and one other. What a wonderful collection is displayed here. Dutch artists that are not commonly viewed in other museums or get lost in the shuffle. Here they are in a place of prominence along side their more internationally known peers such as Rembrandt and Vermeer. There were at least 4 Rembrandt self portraits maybe even a fifth, that was remarkable in and of itself. Make it a point to visit this wonderful museum. Visited September 2015 Excellent Collection of 17th C Dutch Masters - Reviews, Photos - Mauritshuis Museum - TripAdvisor Reviewed 29 July 2016 via mobile If you are visiting Amsterdam, make the short, easy, and inexpensive trip to The Hague/Den Haag for so many reasons. One of the best reasons is the Mauritshuis, especially for the permanent collection of Dutch masters. The museum is not nearly as crowded as comparable sites in Amsterdam -- no lines (at last when we visited) and easy to get close to the art.

It is a pleasantly manageable size, only 2 floors in the old part, with about 8 small galleries on each floor. Several Vermeers, including luminous "Girl with a Pearl Earring"; many Rembrandts, including "Anatomy Lesson"and self-portraits; "The Goldfinch" about which the Donna Tartt novel was written; several Holbein portraits; a couple of Frans Hals, including "Laughing Boy"; and on the day we were there, a small room of floral paintings, all among man, many other wonderful works. It appeared that people were listening to didactic info on their own phones, so there may be an app that we did not access. There is also a new part of the museum showing more contemporary work, just off the spacious, well-organized underground entry area. The museum is right next to a central town square on one side (lunch, dinner, coffee, beer options are plenty), and the castle on the other side.

Strongly recommend a visit -- even young children would enjoy, if you make a point of helping them find interesting details in the paintings Visited July 2016 Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring heads to Japan despite previous problems at Kobe museum | ArtListings Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring heads to Japan despite previous problems at Kobe museum Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring heads to Japan despite previous problems at Kobe museum 24 September 2010 THE HAGUE. The Mauritshuis in The Hague is lending the Girl with a Pearl Earring to a museum in Japan where another Vermeer masterpiece on loan appears to have suffered. After The Art of Painting returned to Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum from Kobe City Museum in 2004, conservators discovered that part of the paint surface had become vulnerable to slight flaking. Environmental conditions in the Kobe gallery during the display were described as “quite problematic”. The Mauritshuis has now agreed to send the Girl with a Pearl Earring to the Kobe museum in 2012. It is among 50 pictures from the collection that are being toured to raise money for the expansion of the Mauritshuis.

Partly because of Tracy Chevalier’s bestselling novel about the painting, the Girl with a Pearl Earring is regarded as the star loan, although there will also be a Rembrandt self-portrait and other major Dutch Golden Age works. The agreement on the Japanese tour was signed in Tokyo in October 2009 with the sponsor, Asahi Shimbun, in the presence of Dutch culture minister Ronald Plasterk. Unknown to the Mauritshuis in 2009 was the fact that the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s The Art of Painting, regarded as Vermeer’s greatest work, had been found to have suffered on its return from a 2004 trip to Japan. It had been part of an exhibition of Dutch and Flemish painting there. This information only emerged in a catalogue of an exhibition on The Art of Painting organised by the Kunsthistorisches Museum earlier this year (see related article). Museums are normally reluctant to publicly air problems resulting from loans to other institutions, and the Viennese conservators worded their comments carefully.

In a technical chapter in the catalogue, the head of conservation Elke Oberthaler and three colleagues explained: “Between 1999 and 2005, The Art of Painting was transported to various exhibitions at eight venues. Examination following the Japan exhibition of 2004 showed no new losses, but gave the impression that the cupping in the blue-green drapery had become more pronounced.” Cupping is the slight curving of small paint areas where there is craquelure, and this can eventually result in flaking. Conservation report The conservators went on to explain: “As the recordings from the accompanying data-logger indicated, the climate conditions during the shipments had been generally stable due to the sufficient thermal insulation of the crate, however [conditions] turned out to have been quite problematic during the exhibition at the second venue, mainly due to daily temperature fluctuations, reaching up to eight degrees celsius.” The unnamed venue was the Kobe City Museum. Daily fluctuations in relative humidity levels of up to 20% were reduced in the microclimate display box housing The Art of Painting in the gallery, keeping levels around the painting to 54% to 58%. However, “temperature fluctuations could naturally not be minimised”.

The conservators added that in addition to the temperature changes at the Japanese venue, the cupping “could also be seen in context with the cumulative stress exerted on the work of art during previous trips”. They concluded: “Considering the diminutive scale of the paint flaking, it was difficult to substantiate any condition changes due to the lack of photographic documentation with sufficient resolution.” Yasumasa Oka, the chief curator of the Kobe City Museum, said: “I do not acknowledge the fact of the rapid temperature rise in the exhibition room”, or that it amounted to eight degrees. “A temperature fluctuation in our museum was not causally related to a possible danger to The Art of Painting,” he said. Karl Schütz, the director of paintings at the Kunsthistor­isches Museum, has written to the Kobe City Museum saying: “An inspection of the painting following the exhibition did not reveal any damage.” It is true that no paint losses were detected, but his conservators did feel that cupping was more pronounced after the Kobe loan. Staying put The Art of Painting is unlikely to travel again because of conservation concerns.

A request by the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum to borrow it for four months in 2008 for a fee of €500,000 had initially been agreed, but this was overruled by the Austrian minister of culture on advice from conservators. Although environmental conditions at the Kobe City Museum may well have been improved in the past few years and the Girl with a Pearl Earring is a less fragile painting, the 2004 experience does raise questions. Last year Mauritshuis staff visited the Kobe museum, which signed a contract on environmental standards for the loan. Emilie Gordenker, the director of the Mauritshuis, is “entirely satisfied” with the agreement. Although the loan fee is undisclosed, it will go towards the cost of the Dutch museum’s €22m extension, which is due to be completed in 2014. The 50 Mauritshuis paintings will initially go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (July to September 2012) and then Kobe (October to December 2012), with a slightly smaller group of works later touring several US venues. This will be while the Mauritshuis is temporarily closed.

Gordenker describes the paintings as “ambassadors” for the museum. Read more GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Johannes Vermeer Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. Vermeer: The Complete Works, New York, 1997) c. 1665-1667 Walter Liedtke Vermeer: The Complete Paintings, New York, 2008) The fine, plain-weave linen support, which has been lined, has a threadcount of 14.7 x 14.3 per cm 2. Only fragments of the original tacking edges survive. The composition was laid in with light and dark areas. The ground is a thick, yellowish-white layer containing lead white; chalk, and possibly umber. The dark background and the deeper shadows of the girl's face, turban, and bodice were established with a mixture of black and earth pigments and further modeled with a paler, ocher color. The shadow of her nose was underpainted with red lake while the highlights on her nose, right cheek and forehead have a thick, cream colored underpaint.

The turban was painted with varying shades of an ultramarine and lead-white mixture; wet-in-wet, over which a blue glaze was applied, except in the highlights. A thin, off-white scumble of paint over the brown shadow of the girl's neck defines the pearl, and is painted more opaquely at the bottom where the pearl reflects the white collar. Small hairs from Vermeer's brush are found in the half-tones of the flesh areas. * Johannes Vermeer (exh. cat., National Gallery of Art and Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis - Washington and The Hague, 1995, edited by Arthur Wheelock) literature 25,5 x 19 cm. National Gallery, London The appearance of the young girl's turban within the context of Vermeer's seemingly quintessential Dutch oeuvre should not come as a complete surprise. Other objects of "Turkish" origin may be associated with the painter. Some of the carpets which appear as table coverings—contemporary painters rarely represented these precious imports lying on the ground—are of Turkish origin.

They must have been appreciated for their evocative floral motifs and the large mass of warm red color which enlivened the otherwise geometrical and cold interiors. However, we must not believe that anything called "Turkish" in contemporary accounts really came from that country. The term was loosely used to describe exotic imported objects which were much in vogue. In the inventory (29 February, 1676) taken shortly after the artist's death we find listed among other things: "a Turkish mantle of the aforesaid Sr. Vermeer," "a pair of Turkish trousers" and "a black Turkish mantle" all in the "great hallway" of his house. Some scholars have suggested that the two tronies in "Turkish dress" found in the kitchen could possibly have been by Vermeer's hand. Vermeer's women are often associated with the pearls eleven of them wear, so much that his oeuvre has become synonymous with the pearl.

In 1908, Jan Veth articulated a widespread sentiment while observing the Girl with a Pearl Earring: "More than with any other VERMEER one could say that it looks as if it were blended from the dust of crushed pearls." In the 17th century, pearls were an important status symbol. A careful consideration of the Girl with a Pearl Earring gives rise to the question of how far the painting is to be taken as a portrait. P. T. A. Swillens, who compiled the first exhaustive study of the artist's life and work in 1950, believed that one of the most important characteristics of a 17th-century portrait was its likeness. And although we can no longer judge of this anymore, the face would not be called a beauty in an aesthetic sense. Swillens writes that Vermeer made no attempt to idealize her. Contemporary scholars are not in agreement on the subject. According to Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. the painting is an "idealized study" which reveals Vermeer's "classical tendencies." Not a single sitter in Vermeer's extant paintings has ever been identified, including the young girl in the Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Various critics believe that she may have been Vermeer's first daughter, Maria, who would have been about 12 or 13 years old in 1665-1667, the dates that specialists have assigned to the painting. However, this painting was certainly not a portrait in the 17th-century sense of the term, but rather a tronie. In any case, she resembles the model in Vermeer's Art of Painting (see above). The Girl with a Pearl Earring reemerged in the Netherlands 300 years after it left the artist's studio. Shortly after it was sold for next to nothing. The history of the acquisition of the Vermeer has by now become legendary. In 1881 Arnoldus Andries des Tombe purchased Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring at a sale at the Venduhuis der Notarissen in the Nobelstraat in The Hague for 2 guilders with a 30 cent premium. Unfortunately, the invoice, which was given to the Mauritshuis in 1944, has disappeared without a trace.

Thanks to a notice in the former daily newspaper Het Vaderland of 3 March 1903, in which the bequest was made public (pasted in the Mauritshuis' cuttings album), we know that Victor de Stuers had recognized the painting as a work by Vermeer. De Stuers was Des Tombe's neighbor—his collection in his residence at 24 Parkstraat was also open to all interested parties—and the two gentlemen had gone together to the auction preview. Des Tombe and De Stuers agreed not to bid against each other. After its acquisition, the badly neglected canvas was sent to Antwerp, where it was "restored" by the painter Van der Haeghen. In the Des Tombe family, however, the story was that Des Tombe and his friend De Stuers had seen a painting that "seemed rather beautiful but was too dirty to evaluate properly." In this version, it was only after the picture had been cleaned that the signature became visible, making clear the identity of the painter.

After Des Tombe's death on 16 December 1902 (his wife had died the year before and their marriage had remained childless) it turned out that he had secretly bequeathed 12 paintings to the Mauritshuis, including Vermeer's famous Girl with a Pearl Earring. (from Quentin Buvelot, "COLLECTING HISTORY: ON DES TOMBE, DONOR OF VERMEER'S GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING" in the Mauritshuis Bulletin, volume 17, no. 1, March 2004) The signature of the Girl with a Pearl Earring is located on the upper left corner. It was painted with a lighter toned pigment over the dark background but it is so faint that many spectators do not notice it and it is usually not visible in reproductions. Vermeer used light toned signatures in other paintings as well. The style too, is comparable to other signatures by the artist. Although the pigments of the signature cannot be analyzed due to the abraded paint layer, the Mauritshuis, where the painting is permanently housed, has always maintained that it is authentic. Beatrice Cenci 129 x 93 cm.

Grand Ducal Collection, Vaduz, Liechtenstein As art historian Robert Baldwin pointed out that there existed a "tradition of comparing beautiful women to jewels. In court culture, the beautiful woman took on a jewel-like preciousness and radiance which worked, ultimately, to represent an inner beauty beyond material splendor. (This is how jewels had long worked in Christian representations of the sacred, their richness and luminosity pointing to a celestial beauty.). In European court poetry, the lady was either described as jewel-like or said to surpass the beauty of all jewels." However, "Vermeer also went beyond a suspect material beauty by avoiding the extensive use of jewels seen in courtly portraits and representations of artists like Van Dyck and Mignard and by restricting himself to the simpler pearl, avoiding rubies, sapphires, and diamonds. More importantly, Vermeer painted everything with a cool, silvery palette and layered, translucent oil glazes, dissolving all material reality with a pearl-like luminosity.

Visualised this way, Vermeer's beautiful women, ornamented with pearls, took on the familiar, pearl-like beauty of contemporary love lyrics where outer loveliness dissolved into an inner radiance." Portrait of the Artist's Wife, Cunera van der Cock Frans van Mieris the Elder c. 1657-8 16 x 13.3 cm. National Gallery, London Although this portrait by fijnschilder (fine painter) Frans van Mieris has been linked with the Girl with a Pearl Earring, few works document so well how fundamentally diverse were the artistic means and goals so divergent from those of his contemporaries. It is true that Vermeer did share with the fijnschilders a common reservoir of motifs but it would be hard to enlist him as a true believer in their exasperated search of detail. Nor had the fijnschilders ever displayed the detached interest in the activities of light or the intricacies of pictorial design which are hallmarks of Vermeer's art.

As detailed as Vermeer's works may appear to the relaxed eye of the 21st-century viewer, the broadness of his painting technique contrasts with the microscopic rendering of detail which was the principal calling card of this school. His modeling is so generalized that the fabric of the girl's yellow garment has never been satisfactorily identified. Instead, the individual hairs of the fur trim in Van Mieris' picture (see detail below) have been rendered one by one to assure recognition. While such rendering induces the viewer to draw as close as possible to admire the work detail by detail, the Vermeer's more essential approach suggests the viewer to step back and relate to the image as a whole. Portrait of the Artist's Wife, Cunera van der Cock (detail) 16 x 13.3 cm. National Gallery, London The fijnschilder mode had reached such extremes because pupils were forever trying to outdo their masters in producing the most convincing illusion of surface textures. Curiously, the fijnschilder school evolved in the very years when the Dutch art market had begun to contract due to a downturn in the nation's economic conditions and subsequnetially exasperated by the war with France.

The once bustling art market was not only flooded with low-priced paintings by living artists but with works of previous generations which slowly worked their way back into the market as their original purchasers passed away. Instead of devising new tactics to abbreviate production time and beat competition, the fijnschilder took the opposite approach and invested unprecedented time and energy on each work, which, moreover, were usually very small. In fact, they targeted the tastes and pockets of the uppermost burgers whose wealth had not been adversely effected by the economic crisis but, on the contrary, had prospered as never before. Thus, it may not be unreasonable that the essential "simplicity" and sobriety of Vermeer's technique might not have been fully appreciated admist the dominant fijnschilder tastes of the day. While it is true that Vermeer's art was recognized among elite connoisseurs, he had gained neither the international reputation nor the prices of his competitors. Given its present iconic status, it may come as a surprise that the Girl with a Pearl Earring was uncovered only in 1881 after 200 years of neglect.

While it is true that Vermeer's name had been largely forgotten by mainstream art history, some of his flagship works had held their own in important European art collections even if a few had been attributed to other painters to augment their value. In the 17th century, a work of art work was seen through different eyes than today. First of all, the Girl with a Pearl Earring was not seen as a portrait but a tronie, a sort of characteristic bust-length figure whose power to capture the purchaser's eye, rather than the sitter's personal identity, was the artist's main concern. Tronies were made for the open market and sold in great numbers at low prices. As odd as it may seem, a painting's worth was often determined not only by its beauty or by its author's reputation. The hierarchical importance of subject matter was held in great consideration and a tronie such as the Girl with a Pearl Earring was definitely on the lower rungs of the ladder, not too distant from landscape and the lowest of all categories, still life. This mind set may be reflected in the relatively low price the Girl with a Pearl Earring may have fetched in the 1696 Amsterdam auction of 21 Vermeer paintings.

Some scholars conjecture that it corresponds to "a tronie in antique dress, uncommonly artful" sold at 46 guilders, a trifle if compared to the equally-sized Milkmaid or the Woman Holding a Balance which earned 175 and 155 guilders respectively. However, is not out of the question that it was another tronie sold in the same auction for only 17 guilders. Johan Larson, a Hague/London sculptor was known to have had another Vermeer tronie valued at only 10 guilders. In deference to the category, a Rembrandt tronie was sold for a mere 7 guilders in the same sale as the two Vermeer's. The Young Mother

Question: In which European city is the Maurithuis Museum, which houses Vermeer's, "Girl with a Pearl Earring"?
Answer: THE HAGUE