Girl With A Pearl Earring delves into seventeenth century life by showing it through Griet’s eyes, though it is from the perspective of her looking back on everything. From the beginning, her cleverness and ability to see the world gains her work in a higher household than her own. This opportunity is good for her family, who needs her to make some extra money. She describes how her father could no longer do his trade due to the fact that he has been blinded. And yet, even though he can no longer make tiles, his love for the craft does not fade with his eyesight.
Griet has a special admiration for her father’s craft; he gives her his best tile to take with her to her new job, and she does her best to keep it safe. The tile depicts both her and her brother, and holds such significance because both her and her brother are moving onto new things in the name of their family. This small piece of her family reminds her of what she is leaving, but also reminds her of her father’s artistic eye, which she seems to have inherited, even though she does not seem fully aware of it.
When she does start her work as a maid, she cannot help but become infatuated with Vermeer’s work and the space that he occupies. Griet takes the extra time to learn the distance between objects so that she can clean without changing anything too drastically for the painter. This attention to detail is mainly what got her the job, but as she continues working and doing things for him, Vermeer slowly begins to see that she has some understanding of art, in a way that he seems to not have witnessed in another person “close” to him. This causes her to interact with him more and more, even though it may not be a good idea for her to do so. As Griet does this, she begins to understand the world through an artist’s eyes more clearly, and therefore on a more personal level.
The painting of Girl With A Pearl Earring conveys this very personal connection. Nothing can be seen in the background, and the lighting within the painting makes the young woman stand out, along with the simple beauty of her outfit. Unlike many of Vermeer’s other paintings, the subject is looking directly at the viewer (and the artist), making the interaction with the painting feel more intimate. As the story continues, I feel that this connection becomes more apparent in Griet’s and Vermeer’s interactions with each other, and it cannot end well.