Girl with a Pearl Earring Post by Gabriela Murphy-Goldberg

Painting: Girl with a Pearl Earring

Painter: Johannes Vermeer (Dutch decent)

Date: unknown

This painting done by Johannes Vermeer was simply signed IV Meer without a date in sight. It is unknown when Vermeer painted it or if it was commissioned by anyone. It is housed at the Mauritshuis gallery in The Hague and is sometimes referred to as "the Mona Lisa of the North"or the "Dutch Mona Lisa." 

It has been the inspiration for not only spectators of the like, but it has inspired the creation of a novel, film, and play as well. Tracy Chevalier wrote my favorite book of all time based on this painting. Since not a lot was known about this specific work, such as to whether the intimate look the subject is exhibiting was directing towards Vermeer, Chevalier wrote her novel to give the painting its own story.   The great part about the painting is how the pearl itself is the focal point of the painting. This is the image of a servant, in Tracy Chevalier's eyes, yet Vermeer made her look beautiful. Thus from the novel, you get that beauty can be brought out in anyone and that nobody should be looked down upon just from their social standing. This is why this painting is my absolute favorite, because of the fact that I have a fictional story behind it that gives me a nice perspective of this painting. Without reading the novel I would have thought she was a beautiful women of nobility simply getting a commissioned painting done of herself to don on her wall. However with the novel's story as part of my perspective I have been able to truly see another light that could have gone into this painting. 

Book:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/girl-with-a-pearl-earring-tracy-chevalier/1100314640?ean=9780452282155

Movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335119/

Play: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/sep/30/theatre2