Girl With a Pearl Earring
The artwork has drawn a staggering number of visitors to the art museum in The Hague, where it is currently housed, throughout history. The girl's unusual position, her enigmatic appearance, the colors, and the excellent quality of the light all contributed to its legendary status.
Even while it appears to be a portrait and is sometimes likened to the Mona Lisa, the artwork is actually a "tronie," which is a painting of an imagined person illustrating a particular type of character. The intriguing painting, which the Dutch painter is thought to have created sometime about 1665, shows an imagined female rather than a real one wearing a blue turban and a sizable pearl earring.
A young, attractive woman is depicted in the Girl With a Pearl Earring, decked out in an exotic gown, an oriental headpiece, and an incredibly large pearl in her ear. There are no obvious warts, scars, or flaws to be seen in this piece of art, even if a female model sat and posed for it. The young lady is dressed in a vivid yellow and blue turban and a shining pearl against a black background. Vermeer's mastery of light and tone is evident in her radiant skin, and her parted red lips are given a moist appearance by tiny white glints.
The girl's close-up stare gives the impression that she is someone we know even if we don't know who she is.
Artist: Johannes Vermeer
Estimated date: 1665
Where to see it: Mauritshuis (The Hague, Netherlands)
