Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer is known for creating 36 works of art in his lifetime, including his most famous painting, “Girl with a Pearl Earring.”
Although the painting depicts a woman, the Mauritshuis says it is not a portrait but a “trony,” a depiction of a fictional character.
In this oil painting, a woman is seen looking over her shoulder against a dark background. Large pearl earrings dangle from the viewer's ears and a blue and gold turban wraps around her head. The subject of the painting wears a gold coat with a white cloth peeking out from above the collar.
“Girl with a Pearl Earring” is Johannes Vermeer's best-known work. The oil painting is on permanent display at the Mauritshuis. (Rex van Lieshout/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
Gustav Klimt's masterpiece, “Portrait of Adele Block-Bauer,” was created over a century ago and took four years to complete.
According to Britannica, the exact date that corresponds with Vermeer's most famous work is unclear, but most historians believe it was painted around 1665.
Of the 36 paintings that Vermeer is said to have painted in his lifetime, many depict women performing everyday tasks, with the titles simply describing the work being done.
Vermeer's other paintings include Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, Young Woman with a Pitcher, Girl with a Pearl Necklace and Lady Writing with a Maid.
A common theme in many of Vermeer's paintings is that they depict women going about their daily tasks. (Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
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Vermeer's works are scattered around the world, with museums holding his works including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery in Washington DC, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Girl with a Pearl Earring is on display at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, Netherlands, where it has been exhibited for the majority of its length since 1902.
When the Mauritshuis underwent renovation in 2012, the painting was put on the road, allowing various audiences in Japan, Italy and the United States to see the famous work of art in person, according to Britannica.
Girl with a Pearl Earring began as a work of art and then became reality, giving it a fictional backstory in a 1999 book and a 2003 film. (Mark Sullivan/MIKIMOTO (USA) Co., Ltd. WireImage)
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It was returned to the Mauritshuis in 2014 and will remain there, except for a period in 2023, when it will be loaned to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Often referred to as the “Mona Lisa of the North,” the painting was the subject of a 1999 book of the same name by Tracy Chevalier.
The book was later adapted into a film starring Scarlett Johansson as Griet, a fictional character modeled after the painting's subject, and Colin Firth as Vermeer. The 2003 film was nominated for three Academy Awards.
