The girl with the pearl in the painting of the same name by Johannes Vermeer has eyelashes, researchers have determined.
The world famous painting from 1665 hangs in the Mauritshuis in The Hague and was examined two years ago using image and scanning techniques and digital microscopy. Analyzes of paint samples were also performed.
Anyone who looks at the still unknown young woman in Vermeer’s masterpiece with the naked eye does not see eyelashes, but with modern research techniques small hairs around both eyes, which have disappeared over the centuries, have been observed, writes Broadcaster West.
Green curtain
Johannes Vermeer also did not place the girl in an empty space, as it seems to the current viewer. He painted her in front of a green curtain, the researchers found. That is now no longer visible. The curtain disappeared over the centuries due to the decolorization of the green paint.
The recent study also brought the researchers closer to Vermeer’s painting techniques. He painted the contours of the girl with thin black lines. During the painting process he made changes to the position of the ear, the top of the headscarf and the back of her neck.
The painter systematically worked from background to foreground: after putting on the greenish background and the skin of the girl’s face, he successively painted her yellow coat, white collar, headscarf and pearl.
‘More precious than gold’
Vermeer’s brush hairs have been found in the paint. The ingredients for the paint came from all over the world. The art museum finds the abundant use of ultramarine of very high quality from present-day Afghanistan remarkable. This material was “more precious than gold”.
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