General Impressions

I really enjoyed watching The Girl with the Pearl Earring in class. The film was a good technique to draw people’s attention to Vermeer’s life and how he created his famous paintings which have lingered on for centuries. The movie was able to tell a story behind his famous paintings and how it was created. Whether true or not, the movie focuses on Vermeer’s artistic techniques on how he created his brilliant paintings. The painting throughout the movie and Vermeer’s way of life demonstrates how the Northern Renaissance in the Low Countries exploited detail and realism in art. In Vermeer’s painting, Grete, seems to full of life and feels so real through Vermeer’s color and detail. The movie conveyed how Vermeer used several layers in his paintings to create the most accurate colors and lighting. Lighting was emphasized throughout the movie by showing how light can have a very effective in the painting process. The light cast into Vermeer’s workshop changed the way he saw his paintings which was seen through the chiaroscuro in the painting with Grete. The movie greatly shows how color and light were the main influences upon Vermeer’s painting. Vermeer also accentuated the common way of life in his paintings. In the portrait of Grete there was nothing more than a portrayal of a maid wearing a peal earring. Also, like many other painters we have looked at, Vermeer’s artwork was commissioned by people. However, like in the movie, when Vermeer wasn’t commissioned, he had to look towards an inspiration which he found in Grete. Therefore, unlike most artists during this time, Vermeer did not find inspiration in biblical stories but in his own life.