Although further restoration is not yet required, major advances in non-invasive technical analysis have been made over the last 25 years. The Mauritshuis hopes to learn more about how Vermeer painted the Girl with a Pearl Earring, as well as the materials that he used. The research will take two weeks and will be conducted in public at the Mauritshuis. The latest technologies will be used.

Specially equipped workshop

Research questions

In order to make the research into the Girl with a Pearl Earring visible to visitors, the Mauritshuis has constructed a studio with a glass enclosure in the museum’s ‘Golden Room’. The painting will be examined 24 hours a day from Monday 26 February to Sunday 11 March 2018. As part of a multimedia presentation, Mauritshuis paintings conservator and head researcher Abbie Vandivere will explain what is taking place inside the workshop using videos and daily updates.

The Girl with a Pearl Earring is a seventeenth-century painting that sparks the imagination. Her enigmatic gaze, Vermeer’s use of colour, and the outstanding play of light in this work captivate everyone who sees it. Researchers are also fascinated by the painting, and have a number of unanswered questions about how Vermeer painted this iconic work of art and which materials he used. The project The Girl in the Spotlight aims to come closer to resolving these issues using the latest technologies to investigate the canvas, pigments, oil and other materials that Vermeer used to create his renowned painting.