Chevalier presents a fictional account of Vermeer, the model and the painting. Set in 17th-century Delft, Holland, the novel was inspired by local painter Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. Visit Tracy Chevalier’s web site to see small images of all the paintings mentioned in the book.Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 1999 historical novel written by Tracy Chevalier. One of the charms of this book is the imagined backstories of famous Vermeer paintings. Chevalier has managed to infuse high drama into the process of painting Griet and the aftermath, once the painting is finished. Yet she is also fascinated by the man and his work. Griet is wary of being painted because of rumors about the fate of another maid who appeared in one of Vermeer’s paintings. His hat pressed into hair the red of brick washed by rain.
He wore a black cloak over his shoulders, a white shirt, and a fine lace collar. He had no beard or mustache, and I was glad, for it gave him a clean appearance. He had a long, angular face, and his expression was steady, in contrast to his wife’s, which flickered like a candle. The man was watching me, his eyes grey like the sea. Here is her first description of Vermeer: The story is told in first person by Griet. Yet Chevalier creates a compelling narrative by focusing on the seemingly small tensions that arise due to jealousy and secrets. In one sense, not a lot happens in the book: at the beginning Griet starts to work for the household, and towards the end Vermeer paints her. Actually, she works in the household of Maria Thins, Vermeer’s mother-in-law and owner of the house. Now there’s a story worth writing.”įrom that thought, Chevalier created the character of Griet, a maid who works in the Vermeer household. According to Tracy Chevalier’s web site, one day as she looked at the poster of the painting that hung in her bedroom, she thought to herself, “I wonder what Vermeer did to her to make her look like that. The novel takes place in the Dutch town of Delft.
Girl with a Pearl Earring was inspired by the famous 17th century Vermeer painting of the same name.
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