Who Could Be Vermeer's 'Girl With a Pearl Earring'?

In 1999, American author Tracy Chevalier published Girl with a Pearl Earring, a novel that was directly inspired by Johannes Vermeer's most celebrated painting with the same name.

Nicknamed the "Mona Lisa of the North", this painting might need little to no introduction but what captivated me was Chevalier's admiration for this composition and turning it into a book. This historical fiction sold more than five million copies worldwide.

Well, no spoilers - I'd not discuss the story of the novel here. But as a writer and an ardent lover of historical paintings and symbolism, I'm always fascinated with the nitty-gritties of the writing process. And so, I'd break down how Chevalier identified the main elements of the story.

The first time Chevalier saw the painting was - as a poster on her sister's wall when she was 19. Mesmerized by the artwork, she got the poster and had it up on the wall where she lived.

Constantly looking at the painting and pondering over the question as to what brings viewers back to it again and again?

One fine day, she decided to research the composition's painter - Johannes Vermeer. To her utter surprise, she found very little was known about the painter. And this became her lottery ticket to narrate the story in any direction she wanted.

Before weaving the characters of the story, Chevalier observed that Vermeer painted the common life of a domestic woman with utmost subtlety and realism. Be it The MilkMaid, or Woman reading a letter, or Woman Holding a Balance - each painting exuded a sense of intimacy while retaining a distance.

Digging into little bits of Vermeer's personal life, Chevalier found that he spent most of his life in Delft, Netherlands, and created around 35 paintings. Married to a Catholic woman, Catharina Bolenes, together they had 11 children.

Chevalier had a revelation when she researched that the identity of the model in the Girl with a Pearl Earring is unknown. Therefore, she could use her own creative freedom to mold the characters. She started narrowing down to a few to reach the main protagonist of the story.

The girl could not be Vermeer's wife as she looked young. The girl could be one of his daughters but Chevalier eliminated this option too and supported the claim by a sensuous gaze on the subject's face. It might have been inappropriate for Vermeer to paint his daughter with an intimate look and slightly parted lips indicating sexual availability. Hence, she eliminated the daughters to be the main subject.

Drilling down further, the author contemplated the timeline of the painting - the Dutch Golden Age - when the city of Delft turned against aristocracy and the Catholic church. Although the paintings were not commissioned by traditional patrons, the Dutch East India Company created a wealthy merchant class who could afford maids and servants in their homes.

While Vermeer and his wife Catharina lived with Catharina's mother, Chevalier speculated that who else could be in their house - a servant, a beautiful servant. A servant could be The girl.

As Vermeer's paintings had a sense of quiet and calm composure of the subjects, he could have had his separate room where he allowed the servant to model and might have created this masterpiece. The oriental turban which is worn by the "Girl with the Pearl Earring" emphasizes the Dutch Golden Age and he might have asked his wife to lend the pearl earrings to the servant.

She's wearing his wife's pearl earrings. She's gorgeous. She obviously loves him. She's conflicted. And does the wife know? Maybe not. And if she doesn't, well - that's the story.

Personally, the author's process and inspiration were fascinating to read and how she constructed the main characters of the story. Seamlessly merging history and fiction and developing a highly creative story is a tenet of an engaging creative writer.

I had been studying the painting for years when one day it dawned on me: of course, she's not looking at me like that - I wasn't there! She's looking at the painter with that curious wide-eyed gaze. It made me wonder what Vermeer did to her to make her look like that at him. That curiosity was what led me to write a novel about the painting: I wanted to explore the mystery of her gaze. To me, Girl with a Pearl Earring is neither a universal tronie, nor a portrait of a specific person. It is a portrait of a relationship. - Tracy Chevalier

References-

1. What's so special about Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring?

2. Tracy Chevalier: Finding the story inside the painting

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