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Neither young nor pearl: the illusion in Veermer's most iconic painting

2020-05-12T08:21:11.892Z


The mystery about one of the masterpieces of 17th century Dutch painting continues to be studied. We explain the new findings around the pictorial process of this jewel in the history of universal art


Far from dissipating, the enigma that for centuries has surrounded The young girl with the pearl , by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), with an artistic style with a tenebrist air and starring an unknown woman with an angelic face, grows with the last reports around the artist. If it was already pointed out, on the one hand, that the figure was a tronie , a name that at the time was given to effigies for decorative use without the intention of being identifiable portraits, now it is suggested that the painting would not even contain what until now it had been seen as its most representative element: the pearl-shaped earring. Also known as The Girl in the Turban , The Dutch Mona Lisa orThe Mona Lisa of the North , investigations can change the way of looking at the emblematic painting forever.

Within the framework of an exhaustive project carried out by experts from the Mauritshuis gallery in The Hague (Netherlands), the work has been analyzed for 15 days with X-ray macro-fluorescence, a technique used to examine millimeter details from chemistry analytics. The researchers have seen delicate eyelashes in the young woman's eyes, as well as evidence of a green curtain behind her head, instead of the black and empty background that, apparently, she thought she was contemplating. The technology used has even allowed us to discover the changes that Veermer himself made during the process or the pigments he used to carry out the painting.

A universe of optical and chiaroscuro illusions

As pointed out by the Research Center of the Mauritshuis gallery, “diagonal lines and color variations are visualized in the techniques used, suggesting a folded canvas in the upper right corner of the painting. That curtain has disappeared over the centuries as a result of physical and chemical changes in the translucent green paint. "

Macrotrays X fluorescence map (MA-XRF) for lead (Pb-M), where the curtain can be seen [Annelies van Loon: Mauritshuis / Rijksmuseum]

Vermeer apparently made compositional changes during the painting process, such as the position of the ear, the top of the scarf, and the back of the neck, which were later shifted. Thanks to infrared images, experts have managed to elucidate some of her subtle painting techniques, such as her first composition with oil in various shades of brown and black, as well as the contours of the young woman drawn with fine black lines.

From the Mauritshuis gallery they assure that the painter worked systematically from the background to the foreground. "After painting the greenish background and the skin of the face, he applied paint to the yellow jacket, the white collar and, finally, the headscarf and the alleged pearl," says gallery director Martine Gosselink. “The pearl is an illusion, it has translucent and opaque touches of white paint, and it lacks the hook to hang it from the ear. In addition, Vermeer signed in the upper left corner with IVMeer, "he continues.

For her part, Abbie Vandivere, director of the project The Girl in the Spotlight and curator of the artistic center of The Hague, has delved into the process and concluded that the paintings used by the artist came from very different places in the world, such as regions that today they belong to Mexico, Central America, England and possibly Asia or the Antilles. He also believes that the artist's high-quality ultramarine blue used for the scarf and jacket comes from the semi-precious lapis lazuli stone, originating in Afghanistan, which possibly heated to high temperatures to facilitate grinding and obtain a more intense color.

¿ Tronie or portrait?

The tronies in the seventeenth century were representations that were not intended to be identified, but to serve artists to flaunt their expertise with the brush. However, researchers have tried for years to find out who the pearl girl really was. Martine Gosselink explains that this work is not about a portrait, but about an effigy, a character. “Even though a girl possibly sat and posed for this painting, there are no moles, scars, or freckles to be seen. At first glance, the girl seemed to have no eyelashes, but the scan revealed that Vermeer painted small hairs around both eyes, "he says.

Latest discoveries that, paradoxically, further cloud the mystery surrounding the young woman, although, in the near future, they hope to shed more light from the project. "This is not the end point of our research, but an intermediate station. We want to go further. The technical possibilities continue to develop, as do the collaborations, which grow as our desire for more information, ”concludes Gosselink.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-05-12

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