The Girl With the Pearl Earring

This book, the Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier is not a new publication. In fact, even the movie (2003) based on this title is not new. But of course, sometimes that seldom matters if the topic is timeless. This is the fictionalized account of the famous painting by Johannes Vermeer in about 1665 of "The Girl with the Pearl Earring". And actually, no one really knows the 'story' of this painting, who this girl really is, or how she came to be painted by Vermeer. Was she really his daughter, or some other household member, like a maid as is suggested in this story by Chevalier. No matter, the story is a wonderful glimpse in to life, culture, and customs of the Dutch in the 17th century. Though we don't end up really knowing too much about Johannes Vermeer, we do learn a lot about some of the subjects of his paintings, of the art of, well art. This was a wonderful book, an easy read, and it certainly made me more curious about Vermeer's work and life. You can see some of his paintings here, and if you've read the book or plan to there are many things in each of his paintings that you'll find in this story.