Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer is known to have created 36 pieces of artwork during his life, including his most famous painting, “Girl with a Pearl Earring.”

The painting depicts a woman, but it’s not a portrait, but rather a “tronie,” according to the Maurithshus museum, which is a painting of an imaginary figure. 

In the oil painting, a woman in a dark setting looks over her shoulder. A large pearl earring dangles from the ear that faces an observer of the work, with a blue and gold turban nearly wrapped around her head. The subject of the painting wears a gold coat, with a white material peaking out at the top of her collar. 

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There isn’t an exact date of creation that coincides with Vermeer’s most famous work, though many historians believe that it was painted around 1665, according to Britannica. 

Of the 36 paintings Vermeer is known to have created in his life, many depict women completing daily tasks, and the titles simply describe the work being done. 

Other paintings of Vermeer’s include “Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window,” “Young Woman with a Water Pitcher,” “Woman with a Pearl Necklace” and “Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid.” 

Many of Vermeer’s paintings are similar in that they show women completing daily tasks.  (Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

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His work is scattered throughout the globe, with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and the Kunsthistorische Museum in Vienna all among those housing Vermeer’s work. 

“Girl with a Pearl Earring” is on display in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, Netherlands, and has been on display there for the most part since 1902.

When the Mauritshuis museum underwent renovations in 2012, the painting hit the road, allowing different audiences in Japan, Italy and the United States to see the famous art first hand, according to Britannica. 

“Girl with a Pearl Earring” started as a piece of artwork, and was later brought to life, given a fictional background story in a 1999 book and a 2003 movie.  (Mark Sullivan/WireImage for Mikimoto (America) Co., Ltd)

Once it went back to the Mauritshuis museum in 2014, it has stayed, except for a time in 2023, when it was loaned to the Rijksmuseum. 

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

The book was later made into a film starring Scarlett Johansson as Griet, a fictional representation of the painting’s subject, and Colin Firth as Vermeer. The 2003 movie was nominated for three Oscars.