Girl with a Pearl Earring
Tracy Chevalier
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Girl with a Pearl Earring is Tracy Chevalier's novel imagining the life and hidden story of the girl depicted in Vermeer's famous painting of the same name. Set in 17th-century Delft, the novel tells the story of Griet, a young servant girl who becomes Vermeer's maid and eventually the subject of his mysterious portrait. Through Griet's perspective, Chevalier explores the constraints on women's lives, the transformative power of art and the impossible love between artist and muse.
- 1Griet is a poor young girl whose family has lost money and must enter service as a maid in a wealthy household in Delft, Netherlands.
- 2She is hired by the famous painter Johannes Vermeer to work as a maid in his household, which is crowded and complicated by the presence of his mother-in-law and his wife.
- 3Vermeer notices something in Griet and gradually draws her into his artistic world, using her as a model for his work.
- 4The novel is structured around the painting of the portrait, with Griet becoming the mysterious girl with the pearl earring.
- 5The relationship between Vermeer and Griet is complicated by Vermeer's marriage, the social gulf between them and the impossibility of their connection.
- 6The novel suggests that the portrait is Vermeer's only way of expressing his feelings for Griet and preserving something of her.
Key ideas
Art as expression and preservation
Vermeer's portrait is his way of expressing something he cannot otherwise speak. Chevalier treats art as a vehicle for emotion that language cannot convey.
The muse as subject
Chevalier explores the dynamics between artist and muse, asking what it means to be seen by an artist and to be transformed into art.
Female constraint and agency
Griet's life is severely constrained by her poverty, her gender and her social position. Within these constraints, she finds small moments of agency and resistance.
The gulf between classes
The divide between Vermeer, a wealthy artist, and Griet, a servant girl, is absolute. Their connection across this gulf is impossible and doomed, yet it happens.
Painting as seduction
The process of being painted is portrayed as intimate and sensual, a form of communication and connection that transcends words.
The secrets in art
Chevalier suggests that the most intimate details of lives are hidden in art, and that looking at paintings differently can reveal their secrets.
Who is it for?
Readers who love historical fiction that imagines the lives of figures in great art will find this beautifully written and moving. It suits anyone interested in the Dutch Golden Age, art history or the lives of women in the past. The novel works both as romance and as meditation on artistic creation.
Full summary
Griet is a poor girl in Delft, Netherlands, in the 1660s. After her father's blindness leaves her family in financial ruin, she must enter service as a maid to support her family.
She is hired to work as a maid in the household of Johannes Vermeer, the famous painter. The household is crowded and complicated, with Vermeer's wife, his mother-in-law and his children all living under the same roof.
Vermeer's wife and mother-in-law are not kind to Griet, seeing her as a threat or an intruder. But Vermeer notices something in Griet and gradually draws her into his artistic world.
Vermeer uses Griet as a model, and the process of painting her is intimate and transformative. Griet is moved by being seen and captured by the artist.
The portrait he paints, the girl with the pearl earring, becomes famous, though no one knows who she really is. Griet becomes the subject of his most famous work.
The relationship between Vermeer and Griet cannot be consummated or openly acknowledged because of their social difference and Vermeer's marriage. Their connection is expressed entirely through art.
When a patron of Vermeer's offers money for the portrait, there is the possibility that Griet will be lost to the world forever, and Vermeer must decide what to do.
The novel ends with the portrait complete and hidden, and Griet returning to her family. The painting becomes the only permanent record of their connection.
