JOHANNES VERMEER,

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, 1665

1.What is it about? What is it for?

-Girl With a Pearl Earring tells the story of Griet, a 16-year-
old Dutch girl who becomes a maid in the house of the painter
Johannes Vermeer. Her calm and perceptive manner not only
helps her in her household duties, but also attracts the painter's
attention. Vermeer's subject is a generic young woman in exotic
dress, a study in facial expression and costume.
-The work attests to Vermeer's technical expertise and
interest in representing light.
2.What is it made of?
-Girl with a Pearl Earring is made of oil painting on canvas,
painting in oil colours, a medium consisting of pigments
suspended in drying oils. (c. 1665) by Dutch artist Johannes
Vermeer, one of his most well-known works. It depicts an
imaginary young woman in exotic dress and a very large pearl
earring.
But according to Dutch art historian Pieter Roelofs, the
earring was likely an imitation glass bauble, rather than a real
pearl.

3.What is its style?

-Interpretation of Girl with a Pearl Earring. Nicknamed the
"Mona Lisa of the North", this beautiful painting - one of the
most famous Baroque portraits - shows that, in addition to his
mastery of Dutch Realist genre painting, Vermeer was also a
master portraitist.

4.How good it is?

-It is very beautiful, for one thing. The striking blue and
yellow of the girl's headscarf, set against a black background, the
glistening pearl created in a few swift strokes, the expert
capturing of light and shade on her luminous skin, the liquid
pools of her eyes: all add up to a work of sublime beauty.
-Girl with a Pearl Earring is Vermeer's most famous
painting. It is not a portrait, but a 'tronie' – a painting of an
imaginary figure.