Rendering 3

The article published on the website of the newspaper “The Daily Californian” on January 31, 2013, is headlined “Timeless Dutch painting displayed at de Young Museum”. The article is written by Addy Bhasin and reports about arrival the famous picture to the Young museum. She has captivated viewers for years with her exotic headdress, pictorial elegance and penetrating eyes, and now Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is finally accessible to an American audience. The exhibit, “Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis,” is a carefully selected group of 17th century Dutch paintings originally from the Netherlands’s Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, which is currently undergoing a major renovation.

It’s an open secret that a wide audience usually call this picture “Dutch Mona Lisa”.  What sets this portrait apart from others is the compelling expression of the girl. Her eyes immediately silence you — something that is apparent only in her presence. The gallery space before the “Girl” is loud and boisterous, but as museum-goers enter the last room to see her, they are quiet, as if in a divine trance. She is small, but she is captivating; the aura of tranquility surrounding the portrait can be felt.

Analyzing the picture, the author emphasize how splendidly preserved the painting is. Recent renovations have been applied to it including varnishing and retouching to remove cracks in the paint. The result is a brilliant revealing of the original incandescent palette: bright blues and rich yellows.

The author draws a conclusion that, “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is certainly a good reason to make a trip to the de Young Museum in the coming weeks; other pieces should not be missed. An impressive collection of Rembrandt van Rijn’s portraits, sketches and etchings can be viewed in “Rembrandt’s Century,” a display that one can gain entry to with a ticket for the “Girl with a Pearl Earring” exhibition.

As for me, I found this article interesting. I have never heard about this unusual picture and hope that one day I will be able to see it. It was interesting to know also that Tracy Chevalier had written a historical novel, also entitled Girl with a Pearl Earring (1999), fictionalizing the circumstances of the painting's creation.