Where is girl with a pearl earring

Set in 17th century Delft, Holland, Chevalier presents a fictional account of Vermeer, the girl in the painting and the artwork itself. The internet is brimming with images of the girl, either just as she is, or altered for our times: taking a selfie, styled into a manga comic character, riding on the back of a motorcycle with Van Gogh as the driver.

Banksy even turned her into graffiti on a Bristol wall, with a security alarm in place of her earring. Now, of course, it is priceless; the Mauritshuis would never sell it. But why did I feel the need to see the painting so much? What brings viewers back to it again and again? I think there are three qualities that make Girl with a Pearl Earring so seductive. It is very beautiful, for one thing. Read our latest press releases, download images and get more information about filming and photography in the museum.

Multimediatour Mauritshuis. English EN. Tickets English EN Search. Would you like to receive our press releases automatically? In contrast, Girl With a Pearl Earring features an unnamed young woman looking over her shoulder to gaze directly at the viewer. While it may seem like a conventional portrait, the work is actually a tronie , or painting that emphasizes character and costume over the depiction of a specific subject. The scarf stood out to researchers analyzing the pigments used by the Dutch Golden Age giant, explains Vandivere in a video published by the Mauritshuis.

The vibrant blue was derived from the semiprecious stone lapis lazuli, which was heated and ground up to produce a pigment. He made dozens of them, often using himself as the model, sometimes wearing a remarkable cap or a helmet. The pearl is too large to be real. Perhaps the girl is wearing a pearl drop made of glass, which has been varnished to give it a matte sheen.

Pearls — both real and imitation — were fashionable in the period from about to Girl with a Pearl Earring has been known to the general public only since , when it was put up for auction at the Venduhuis der Notarissen in The Hague.

On the viewing day it attracted the attention of the influential cultural official Victor de Stuers, who was there together with his friend and neighbour, the art collector A. Tradition has it that even though the painting had been badly neglected, De Stuers recognised it as a Vermeer. Whatever the case may be, De Stuers and Des Tombe agreed not to bid against each other, and Des Tombe therefore acquired the painting for the negligible sum of two guilders plus thirty cents mark-up.

When he died, on 16 December , Des Tombe turned out to have made a secret will bequeathing twelve paintings to the Mauritshuis, including Girl with a Pearl Earring. Pieter Claesz van Ruijven, Delft, before ;? Multimediatour Mauritshuis.