Girl with a Pearl Earring
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About Girl with a Pearl Earring
She has just turned around.
Her lips are still slightly open. Her eyes meet ours. Behind her there is no room, window, or furniture to explain what happened. Vermeer gives us only a dark background and one unfinished moment—as if someone called out and we arrived at exactly the second she looked back.
Then the light begins to leave clues. It touches her eyes, her lower lip, the folds of her blue-and-yellow head covering, and the large earring beside her neck. Look closely at that famous earring. Vermeer used only a few bright marks to make it seem shiny and round. Its material is uncertain, and the title we know today came much later.
This was probably not meant as a formal portrait of a named girl. It is a tronie, a study of a face, expression, and costume. We may never know who she was—which makes her sudden turn feel even more alive.
Artwork details
- Artist
- Johannes Vermeer
- Date
- c. 1665
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 44.5 × 39 cm
- Collection
- Mauritshuis
- Accession number
- 670
Sources & rights
Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, c. 1665. Mauritshuis, 670. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
