The masterful Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer painted the famous “Girl with a Pearl Earring” during the Golden Age

The Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer created 36 works of art during his lifetime, including his most famous painting, “Girl with a Pearl Earring.”

The painting depicts a woman, but it is not a portrait, but rather, according to the Maurithshus Museum, a “tronie”, i.e. the painting of an imaginary figure.

In the oil painting, a woman looks over her shoulder in a dark setting. A large pearl earring dangles from her ear, which is turned towards the viewer of the work, and a blue and gold turban is wrapped almost around her head. The person depicted in the painting is wearing a gold coat with a white fabric peeking out from the collar.

Gustav Klimp's masterpiece, the portrait of Adele Block-Bauer, which is over a century old, was completed in four years.

There is no exact date that corresponds to Vermeer's most famous work, although many historians believe it was painted around 1665, according to Britannica.

Many of the 36 paintings Vermeer created during his lifetime depict women performing everyday tasks, and the titles simply describe the work being done.

Vermeer's other paintings include “Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window”, “Young Woman with a Water Jug”, “Woman with a Pearl Necklace” and “Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid”.

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His works are scattered all over the world: museums that exhibit Vermeer's works include the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

“Girl with a Pearl Earring” is on display at the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, Netherlands, and has been largely on display there since 1902.

When the Mauritshuis Museum was renovated in 2012, the painting went on tour, allowing various visitors in Japan, Italy and the United States to admire the famous artwork firsthand, according to Britannica.

After being returned to the Mauritshuis Museum in 2014, it remained there, except for a period in 2023 when it was loaned to the Rijksmuseum.

The painting, often referred to as the “Mona Lisa of the North,” was the inspiration for a 1999 book of the same name by Tracy Chevalier.

The book was later made into a film. Scarlett Johansson played Griet, a fictionalized representation of the painting's subject, and Colin Firth played Vermeer. The 2003 film was nominated for three Oscars.