Grade 11/12 - Day 27

Painting Study - "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer

This oil on canvas masterpiece was painting around 1665.  Originally titled, "Girl with a Turban", it is believed that it may be a picture of Vermeer's eldest daughter.  

Colour

"Vermeer's intense use of his signature ultramarine can be clearly seen in this work. It is not only used in the top of the turban but also in the neck and end of the fabric hanging down the sitter's back.

Vermeer uses his palette to the fullest and his skill in under painting creates an intense volume that has a three-dimensional effect. He uses a unique blend of creamier tones and pigments for the girl's skin so it has a sort of glowing effect in the light and contrasts with the background.

Red and brown ochres are used to define shadows on the girl's skin to create depth and definition as the light source comes from the left frontal area. This also helps to accentuate the facial features and make them as realistic as possible.

Vermeer uses the Dutch custom of a dark background which allowed the artists to create a three-dimensional effect of the highlighted subject. Dark backgrounds enabled the artist to be more flexible in their technique and gave them the freedom to play with various contrasts of lighting. Art historians have discovered that Vermeer used a green ochre tone as an undercoat in this painting which helped bring out the vibrant colors of the figure." Source: http://www.artble.com/

The girl is seen against a neutral, dark background, very nearly black, which establishes a powerful three-dimensionality of effect. Seen from the side, the girl is turning to gaze at us, and her lips are slightly parted, as if she were about to speak to us. It is an illusionist approach often adopted in Dutch art. She is inclining her head slightly to one side as if lost in thought, yet her gaze is keen.

The girl is dressed in an unadorned, brownish-yellow jacket, and the shining white collar contrasts clearly against it. The blue turban represents a further contrast, while a lemon-yellow, veil-like cloth falls from its peak to her shoulders. Vermeer used plain, pure colours in this painting, limiting the range of tones. As a result, the number of sections of colour are small, and these are given depth and shadow by the use of varnish of the same colour.

The girl's headdress has an exotic effect. Turbans were a popular fashionable accessory in Europe as early as the 15th century, as is shown by Jan van Eyck's probable self portrait, now in the National Gallery in London. During the wars against the Turks, the remote way of life and foreign dress of the "enemy of Christendom" proved to be very fascinating. A particularly noticeable feature of Vermeer's painting is the large, tear-shaped pearl hanging from the girl's ear; part of it has a golden sheen, and it stands out from the part of the neck which is in shadow.

The oriental aspect, which is mentioned in the above extract, is further emphasised by the turban. The reference to Isaac and Rebecca suggests that this picture could have been painted on the occasion of this young woman's marriage. So to that extent it is a portrait.

Source: www.wga.hu

Composition

The composition of Girl with a Pearl Earring is delightfully simple. Unlike most of the other paintings by the Delft master, the subject here is only a simple head of a girl looking over her shoulder at the viewer. No hint of a setting is provided, other than its atmospherically dark tone. This too is unusual for the mature Vermeer. The unusually direct contact between subject and spectator, and the slightly parted position of the lips, presents a sense of immediacy so great as to imply significant intimacy. The girl is wearing a simple brownish-yellow top, which contrasts strongly with her bright white collar. A further contrast is offered by her blue and yellow or turban (or chaperon) which gives the picture a distinctly exotic effect. Turbans were a relatively common accessory in Europe from the 15th century, as is shown by Man in a Red Turban (1433, National Gallery, London), the famous self-portrait by Jan Van Eyck. Indeed, Vermeer's older contemporary, Rembrandt, painted single figures and heads in exotic costume throughout his life, and that similar small heads with unusual headgear by Carel Fabritius (1622-54) - who taught Vermeer - indicate that he may have carried this tradition to Delft.
Source: www.visual-arts-cork.com