Today I saw a headline about the ‘New Revelations about “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, the painting by Johannes Vermeer. I’m not sure why it is surprising that the pigments of this iconic painting are earth pigments. But then I don’t know all that much about what was used in the 1600’s to make paint, aside from earth pigments. Maybe they had already begun to use synthetic pigments. Obviously, I have not retained a lot of details from my previous art history classes.
However, I did enjoy reading the article about it at Art & Object. Apparently some studies were done, confirming the use of iron rich earth pigments in the paints.
One of the revelations revealed by the new technologies employed were the eyelashes that aren’t visible to the naked eye anymore. And the curtains of the background. As beautiful as most of the colors still are, it has changed over time. I’d say that 355 years is an excuse enough for faded eyelashes.
That Blue, Though
The blue is made from lapis lazuli. I’ve made a tiny amount of blue from a lower quality raw lapis I had on hand, and it was one of the most difficult paints I’ve made. I needed it for the eye of a pelican.
This pigment was more valuable than gold at the time Vermeer painted this Girl. It is the source for the blue of the mantle of the Madonna’s robes in Renaissance paintings.
If you’ve ever taken an art appreciation class, you should remember seeing the painting, even if you can’t remember the artist’s name. I’ll admit that I always forget it, but I’ll never forget The Girl by Vermeer. There is something captivating about the way she is looking at the artist. It amazes me that portrait artists can capture facial expressions like this.
What makes it even more amazing is that this was done in the days before an artist could just snap a picture to capture the moment.
Contact Mad Rox: (479) 409-3429 or madison@madisonwoods and let me know which hat I need to put on 🙂 Madison for art, Roxann for real estate, lol. Or call me Mad Rox and have them both covered!
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Author/Artist Info
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Roxann Riedel is a salesperson for Montgomery Whiteley Realty, artist, owner of the only ginseng nursery in Arkansas, and the author of books and this website. Madison Woods is the pen-name she uses for her creative works. She’s a self-taught artist who moved to the Ozarks from south Louisiana in 2005. Her paintings of the Ozark-inspired scenes feature lightfast pigments from Madison county, Arkansas. Her inspiration is nature – the beauty, and the inherent cycle of life and death, destruction and regeneration. Wild Ozark is also the only licensed ginseng nursery in Arkansas. Here’s the link for more information on the nursery
There’s always a discount for paintings on the easel 😉
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