Mystery of ‘Girl With The Pearl Earring’ finally solved after 360 years as her identity is finally revealed
Topics: World News
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Topics: World News
Finally, after over 300 years, the Girl With a Pearl Earring has been named, and we can close a chapter on this historic question.
If you’ve never seen the painting before, you’ll have seen Scarlett Johansson portray her in the film of the same name.
360 years ago, a young girl was painted looking over her shoulder at Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer in 1665.
However, her age, name, and place of origin was never disclosed.
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But now, it has been revealed.
According to Art expert Andrew Graham-Dixon, the girl in the painting was a child, and not a pre-teen, or even a woman.
He explained in a Times of London article as he promoted his Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found book, which dives into the painter’s origin and life.
Graham-Dixon revealed that Vermeer almost exclusively painted for one couple in the Netherlands, husband and wife Pieter Claeszoon van Ruijven and Maria de Knuijt in Delft.
The pair were Remonstrants, a Christian sect which was persecuted at the time due to their belief in free will to follow or reject God, per the Telegraph.
Because of his long affiliation with the couple, the art expert says the girl in the painting must be their 10-year-old daughter, Magdalena.
He went on to explain that she was dressed to look like Jesus's follower, Mary Magdalene, the woman who financially upheld his ministries and was one of his most important apostles.
For the Remonstrants, they chose a life which attempted to live like Magdalene and other apostles, believing that your faith can be neglected if you do not work to maintain the teachings and lifestyle.
Graham-Dixon claimed: “She (Magdalena) would have been 12 in the autumn of 1667, and assuming that she was a Collegiant, a more radical outgrowth like her parents, she would have solemnized her commitment to Christ at that age."
Because Vermeer was also raised as a Remonstrant and participated in Collegiant ceremonies and gatherings, he ‘was inspired by the religious beliefs cherished by Marie de Knuijt and those close to her, who included Vermeer himself.’
While it was thought that Vermeer was commissioned by van Ruijven, many believe that it was Maria who held a special relationship with the artist, having known him for a longer period of time.
His close ties to the family would mean that he had ample time with their daughter before their deaths a short time later.
Van Ruijven died in 1674, Vermeer the following year, Maria in 1681, and Magdalena passed away in 1682.
Of course, there are those who believe Vermeer’s subject in the painting was fictional or simply not meant to be named. But at least now there’s some closure on who it could have been.