After seeing a certain painting in different publications or art catalogues so many times, when the moment finally arrives to find myself face to face with it for the first time, I am flooded by a sense of disquietude and nervousness. The image is so familiar to me that I don’t think I will be capable of contributing new feelings to those that I have already experienced. Will it be bigger or smaller than I imagined? Will the colours be lighter or darker that I imagined?

The colour, the light, the size of the canvas including its frame, these are the details that you cannot appreciate in their full splendour until you behold the painting with your own eyes. I think that seeing the painting itself, however many times you may have seen it in publications; will always surprise you more than you think. At least this is what always happens to me.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Finding myself face to face with “Girl with a Pearl Earring” produced a much greater feeling inside me than I had expected from this particular piece of art. It is a rather small oil painting, it measures 45×39 cm. This magnificent portrait by Vermeer has a beauty so surprising that it captures you instantly. Many consider this painting to be the Mona Lisa of the North, comparing it with Leonardo Da Vinci’s emblematic masterpiece.

Would it be the eyes; the youngster’s gaze; the light that Vermeer always painted so masterfully, or the reflection of the pearl that captivated me from the very beginning? All of this is of a surprising beauty.

On one hand the youth transmits a feeling of innocence and sensitivity to me. Her gaze seems so sweet and juvenile… Yet on the other hand, her humid and full lips convey an exciting sensuality to me. Altogether I think that she directs a gaze loaded with cheek and insinuation at the spectator.

I must admit that my eyes went directly to the earring, a simple pearl of substantial size. Plinio said that women had the custom of hanging pearls from their ears for the pleasure that it caused them when the pearls stroked their skin whilst moving.

I fell in love with this pearl, the simplicity of its montage and its size. For me, the pearl was the focal point of this painting. It is because of this that I didn’t rest until I found the most similar jewel to these earrings. This happened in a goldsmith inFlorence, specializing in reproductions of Baroque pieces, where I found these that I bring to our Vintage space today.

If you have the opportunity to see this magnificent masterpiece, don’t miss out on it. I would love to know your opinions about her. She is currently in the Royal Picture Gallery inThe Hague.

I hope you like it as much as I do.