Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch Baroque artist known for his paintings of middle-class domestic life. His most famous painting, Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665), depicts a young girl in exotic Turkish dress with a turban. The painting is known as a tronie, a portrait type that depicts an imaginary figure, rather than someone’s likeness. Vermeer’s talent in representing light fills the girl’s face with a beautiful softness and picks up the shimmer of the large pearl dangling from her ear. Her turned head, parted mouth, and gaze at the viewer have continued to captivate audiences, inspiring numerous literary and film references.

Learn more about the work that inspired this pin HERE.