Vermeer 's version of the Original Sin?
In this entry I shall try to unveil part of the mystery behind "Girl with a Pearl Earring"
This is one of the key paintings of the 17th century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer.
It is often referred to as the "Mona Lisa of the North" perhaps because it "resists all attempts at the precise identification of the sitter" and as its famous Italian sister it can be seen as "an evocative expression of timeless female beauty".(ArtBook: Vermeer, Dorling Kindsley Limited, 1999)
The name of this painting is "Girl With a Pearl Earring". I think the artist doesn't identify the sitter in the title with a purpouse.
I have a lot of thoughts about this image, but I don't know where to start from.
There's a whole novel based on this very painting , which was adopted into a film and then into a play. I've seen and liked the film But before I tell you what the film says about the painting and, let us look at the art piece itself.
I don't know about you, but it leaves me with a feeling of something intimate and fleeting, a stolen moment. This may be attributed to the indefinable mood of the girl, her gaze speaks of not one but several emotions, merging together, something a little bit more complicated and difficult to read.
I see melancholy, a little a bit of fear, and a sort of expectation in her gaze. The sense of expectation heightened by her gently semi-opened mouth.
Composition-wise this a very simple and straightforward painting. We see the female figure looking over her shoulder, her face in semi-profile, with same free space left in the right-hand side of the canvas, so it can 'breathe', this also guides the viewer's eye to certain areas of the portrait. This is accomplished with the use of some of the techniques we studied for the Visual Communication module.
I believe the artist chose black for the background, so that the pale skin of the model would stand out more and to let the viewer's eye focus only on the figure itself, not burdening our attention with
extra detail. The emphasis here is on the sitter, her face.
The black background also conceals even more the story of the depicted person. It heightens the sense of mystery to this portrait. Usually in portraiture artists tell as the story of their sitter through the use of props – the depicted person's garment, the objects that surround him or the background environment.
Here the accent is place only on the earring.
Vermeer, the creator of this painting was considered to be a master of light and composition.
But "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is not a good example for sophisticated composition. To me it serves more as an example how an artist can accomplish maximum effect with a minimum resorts.
Now if we look at the girl's clothes we see nothing extravagant or expensive, giving away noble descent, although she is beautiful and she has gentle features.
And to answer the question, who or what she is looking at – I believe she's looking at the artist himself. It is a logical and simple answer... but I believe that this painting has printed the relationship between Vermeer and his mysterious sitter into history, all summed up in one discrete and emotionally charged expression on her face.
Now to tell you about the conclusion to which the writer of the novel based on this painting has come. This is merely a speculation, because there aren't many known facts about Vermeer's life and none what so ever about the identity of the sitter.
According to the film/novel this is one of Vermeer's servants, with whom he had an affair, and if my memory serves me right, she even carried their illegal child. She is not a professional model and that's the reason the painting has a more natural feel to it, unadulterated and genuine. The girl is not posing for the painter, she is her true self. The little hint in the title of this image – the earring, is an expensive piece of jewelery belonging to Vermeer's wife, which he asked the girl to try on so he can paint her wearing it. In order to store that image of her for eternity.
A very beautiful gesture, in my opinion. This theory explains the subtle fear you can read in her eyes – she is scared because she's doing something forbidden.
I think Vermeer's painting can be seen as an interesting interpretation of the biblical story about the forbidden fruit, realised through the means of painting, and in this case the pearl earring is a symbol which connotes to the Original Sin.
I have a lot of thoughts about this image, but I don't know where to start from.
There's a whole novel based on this very painting , which was adopted into a film and then into a play. I've seen and liked the film But before I tell you what the film says about the painting and, let us look at the art piece itself.
I don't know about you, but it leaves me with a feeling of something intimate and fleeting, a stolen moment. This may be attributed to the indefinable mood of the girl, her gaze speaks of not one but several emotions, merging together, something a little bit more complicated and difficult to read.
I see melancholy, a little a bit of fear, and a sort of expectation in her gaze. The sense of expectation heightened by her gently semi-opened mouth.
Composition-wise this a very simple and straightforward painting. We see the female figure looking over her shoulder, her face in semi-profile, with same free space left in the right-hand side of the canvas, so it can 'breathe', this also guides the viewer's eye to certain areas of the portrait. This is accomplished with the use of some of the techniques we studied for the Visual Communication module.
I believe the artist chose black for the background, so that the pale skin of the model would stand out more and to let the viewer's eye focus only on the figure itself, not burdening our attention with
extra detail. The emphasis here is on the sitter, her face.
The black background also conceals even more the story of the depicted person. It heightens the sense of mystery to this portrait. Usually in portraiture artists tell as the story of their sitter through the use of props – the depicted person's garment, the objects that surround him or the background environment.
Here the accent is place only on the earring.
Vermeer, the creator of this painting was considered to be a master of light and composition.
But "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is not a good example for sophisticated composition. To me it serves more as an example how an artist can accomplish maximum effect with a minimum resorts.
Now if we look at the girl's clothes we see nothing extravagant or expensive, giving away noble descent, although she is beautiful and she has gentle features.
And to answer the question, who or what she is looking at – I believe she's looking at the artist himself. It is a logical and simple answer... but I believe that this painting has printed the relationship between Vermeer and his mysterious sitter into history, all summed up in one discrete and emotionally charged expression on her face.
Now to tell you about the conclusion to which the writer of the novel based on this painting has come. This is merely a speculation, because there aren't many known facts about Vermeer's life and none what so ever about the identity of the sitter.
According to the film/novel this is one of Vermeer's servants, with whom he had an affair, and if my memory serves me right, she even carried their illegal child. She is not a professional model and that's the reason the painting has a more natural feel to it, unadulterated and genuine. The girl is not posing for the painter, she is her true self. The little hint in the title of this image – the earring, is an expensive piece of jewelery belonging to Vermeer's wife, which he asked the girl to try on so he can paint her wearing it. In order to store that image of her for eternity.
A very beautiful gesture, in my opinion. This theory explains the subtle fear you can read in her eyes – she is scared because she's doing something forbidden.
I think Vermeer's painting can be seen as an interesting interpretation of the biblical story about the forbidden fruit, realised through the means of painting, and in this case the pearl earring is a symbol which connotes to the Original Sin.
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