Girl with a Pearl Earring

Johannes Vermeer c. 1665

Mauritshuis
Den Haag, Netherlands

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. Tronies depict a certain type or character; in this case a girl in exotic dress, wearing an oriental turban and an improbably large pearl in her ear.

Johannes Vermeer was the master of light. This is shown here in the softness of the girl’s face and the glimmers of light on her moist lips. And of course, the shining pearl.

Details

Title: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Creator: Johannes Vermeer
Date Created: c. 1665
Physical Dimensions: 44.5 x 38.1 cm
Provenance: (?) Pieter Claesz van Ruijven, Delft, before 1674; (?) his widow, Maria de Knuijt, Delft, 1674-1681; (?) their daughter Magdalena van Ruijven, and Jacob Dissius, Delft, 1681-1682; (?) Jacob Dissius (with his father Abraham Dissius, 1685-1694), Delft, 1682-1695; Dissius sale, Amsterdam, 16 May 1696, lot 38 (f36,-), 39 (f17,-) or 40 (f17,-); Braams sale, The Hague, 1881 (day and month unknown) (f2,30 to Des Tombe); A.A. des Tombe, The Hague, 1881-1902 (on loan to the Mauritshuis in 1881); bequest of Arnoldus Andries des Tombe, The Hague, 1903
Type: Painting
External Link: Gigapixel image digitized by Madpixel
Medium: Oil
Further Information: This image is part of Second Canvas Mauritshuis app

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