22 January 2021
Girl with a Pearl Earring
With precisely 35 canvases to his credit, the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer represents one of the great enigmas of 17th-century art. The meager facts of his biography have been gleaned from a handful of legal documents. Yet Vermeer's extraordinary paintings of domestic life, with their subtle play of light and texture, have come to define the Dutch golden age. His portrait of the anonymous Girl with a Pearl Earring has exerted a particular fascination for centuries—and it is this magnetic painting that lies at the heart of Tracy Chevalier's second novel of the same title.
Girl with a Pearl Earring centers on Vermeer's prosperous Delft household during the 1660s. When Griet, the novel's quietly perceptive heroine, is hired as a servant, turmoil follows. First, the 16-year-old narrator becomes increasingly intimate with her master. Then Vermeer employs her as his assistant—and ultimately has Griet sit for him as a model.
| Title | : | Girl with a Pearl Earring |
| Edition Language | : | English |
| ISBN | : | 9780452287020 |
| Format Type | : |
Readers Also Enjoyed Girl with a Pearl Earring
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“I heard voices outside our front door - a woman's, bright as polished brass, and a man's, low and dark like the wood of the table I was working on. They were the kind of voices we heard rarely in o...
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Another one of my wife's recommendations (I read a lot of books that way), I picked it up from the bookshelf the night we came back from seeing the film with Scarlett Johansonn and Colin Firth. I love...
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I know almost nothing about art, but even I can tell that Girl With a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer is a brilliant painting; 'captivating' is probably the best word to describe it. One presumes th...
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Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy ChevalierGirl with a Pearl Earring is a 1999 historical novel written by Tracy Chevalier. Set in 17th century Delft, Holland, the novel was inspired by Delft school pa...
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I approached this novel trepidatiously. How could I ever suspend my disbelief with this work? How could I ever believe such a ridiculous tale about Vermeer and one of his most revered paintings? I mus...
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Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest I have read this book so many times. And even after re-reading this book so many times, it is and will always remain one of my favourite books, a st...
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A reread. 4.5 Stars!Griet had not been told that she is to become the painter Vermeer’s maid, her mother only revealing the job to her after the Vermeer’s had already been, inspected Griet, and le...
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So the parts when Vermeer was actually being a painter were interesting. Seeing as I slogged through this on account of a recommendation that arose from an art-class lecture on Vermeer, I was hoping t...
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I CAN'T SHOUT "MEH!" LOUD ENOUGH!!!The popular fame obtained by this book and its subsequent movie version starring Scarlett Johansson...*two hours later*(Sorry, I was daydreaming)...had me expecting ...
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Beautifully written and read aloud, this is an imagining of the possible life of the girl depicted in Vermeer's lovely painting....