Turbans, Oriental Pearls and
Chinoiserie
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Vermeer
Girl with a Pearl Earring
c. 1665
It is possible that this painting is a portrait. The girl is wearing an exotic
turban, and the way she is gazing at us dreamily over her shoulder copies a
style of portrait which was introduced by Titian's Ariosto. The girl is seen
against a neutral, dark background, very nearly black, which establishes a
powerful three-dimensionality of effect - a process recommended by Leonardo da
Vinci.
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Portraits of Women
Vermeer predominantly depicted young women in a narrative situation, though this
was often merely sketched in. The impression of an activity was created by his
addition of some attribute, such as a musical instrument or a set of scales. In
addition to these genre-type pictures, however, there are three paintings of his
which completely lack any such elements. One cannot help concluding that these
must be portraits, especially due to the fact that, in keeping with that genre,
we see these women from a close perspective.
One is not forced to accept such a conclusion, of course, because some form of
activity or mental action were important attributes in the interpretation of a
number of portraits in and before the 17th century; and, at the same time, not
every picture which appears to be in keeping with the style of a portrait has to
be interpreted as a portrait, as having a conscious intention of creating an
individualised character. In the case of the portrait historie, for example,
where the subject frequently assumed a role in disguise, it is often difficult
to decide whether the intention was to portray an individual, or whether the
appearance of the model was merely being borrowed for a different purpose.
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Jan van Eyck
Man Wearing a Red Turban
1433
Turbans were a popular fashion accessory long before they
were used by Vermeer, as we see in this probable
self-portrait by Jan van Eyck.
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These considerations are pertinent to Vermeer's famous
Girl with a Pearl Earring, too. The girl is seen against a neutral, dark background, very nearly
black, which establishes a powerful three-dimensionality of effect. (In fragment
232 of his Treatise on Painting, Leonardo da Vinci had noted that a dark
background makes an object appear lighter, and vice versa.) Seen from the
side, the girl is turning to gaze at us, and her lips are slightly parted, as if
she were about to speak to us. It is an illusionist approach often adopted in
Dutch art. She is inclining her head slightly to one side as if lost in thought,
yet her gaze is keen.
The girl is dressed in an unadorned, brownish-yellow jacket, and the shining
white collar contrasts clearly against it. The blue turban represents a further
contrast, while a lemon-yellow, veil-like cloth falls from its peak to her
shoulders. Vermeer used plain, pure colours in this painting, limiting the range
of tones. As a result, the number of sections of colour are small, and these are
given depth and shadow by the use of varnish of the same colour.
The girl's headdress has an exotic effect. Turbans were a popular fashionable
accessory in Europe as early as the 15th century, as is shown by Jan van Eyck's
probable self-portrait, now in the National Gallery in London. During
the wars against the Turks, the remote way of life and foreign dress of the
"enemy of Christendom" proved to be very fascinating. A particularly noticeable
feature of Vermeer's painting is the large, tear-shaped pearl hanging from the
girl's ear; part of it has a golden sheen, and it stands out from the part of
the neck which is in shadow.
In his Introduction to the Devout Life (1608), which was published in a Dutch
translation in 1616, the mystic St. Francis De Sales
(1567-1622) wrote, "Both now and in the past it has been
customary for women to hang pearls from their ears; as Pliny
observed, they gain pleasure from the sensation of the
swinging pearls touching them. But I know that God's friend,
Isaac, sent earrings to chaste Rebecca as a first token of
his love. This leads me to think that this jewel has a
spiritual meaning, namely that the first part of the body
that a man wants, and which a woman must loyally protect, is
the ear; no word or sound should enter it other than the
sweet sound of chaste words, which are the oriental pearls
of the gospel."
From this it is clear that the pearl in Vermeer's painting
is a symbol of chastity. The oriental aspect, which is
mentioned in the above extract, is further emphasised by the
turban. The reference to Isaac and Rebecca suggests that
this picture could have been painted on the occasion of this
young woman's marriage. So to that extent it is a portrait.
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Vermeer
Girl with a Pearl Earring (detail)
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Vermeer
Girl with a Pearl Earring (detail)
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There is surely a similar explanation for the Head of a
Girl dressed in a smart, grey dress. Many experts on Vermeer
have placed this painting among his later ones; since 1979 it has
been in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Though more
discreet, there is another pearl earring in this picture. The
composition is also related to the other painting. Once again, we
see this woman from the side, looking over her shoulder, though her
face is turned further towards us. Her black hair is combed back
severely from her forehead, and is plaited together with her
(bridal?) veil. An additional variant is the position of her left
arm, which is bent up against a parapet. Vermeer is following a
style of portrait which was introduced by Titian's Ariosto.
The Girl with a Flute, which is part of the Widener
Collection in Washington, depicts a young girl who is largely
detached from the uncertain context of the picture. We see her from
a very close angle, leaning on the edge of a table which has been
foreshortened to the point where it looks more like a parapet.
Again, her lips are lightly parted as she looks at us, as if she
were about to speak to us. Her face, and in particular her eyes, are
shadowed due to her wide, conical hat; it takes on the appearance of
exotic chinoiserie. The way in which her face has been painted in
shadow lends a touch of the enigmatic to her features.
Vermeer repeated this posture of the arm in the painting Girl
with a Red Hat, though she is seen from the other side, and
is therefore leaning on her right arm, against the backrest of a
chair decorated with lions' heads and rings. This picture was quite
evidently painted with the aid of a camera obscura. That is
indicated by his use of pointillism, bright dots of paint and
occasional highlights on the folds. The light is falling at an angle
from above onto her soft, feathery hat; on the top it is vermilion,
and the lower shadowed part is a dark purple colour. The intensity
of the light is such that the hat appears, at points, to be
transparent. Its broad brim has the effect of casting a shadow over
most of her face; only her left cheek, below her eye, is lit. The
shading of her eyes, the centre of her face, is quite intentional;
the principle of dissimulatio, a mysterious disguise, is
being applied here, the intended effect being to heighten our
curiosity.
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Vermeer
Head of a Girl
1666-67
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Vermeer
Head of a Girl (detail)
1666-67
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Vermeer
Girl with a Flute
1666-67
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Vermeer
Girl with a Flute (detail)
1666-67
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Vermeer
Girl with a Red Hat
1666-67
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Vermeer
Girl with a Red Hat (detail)
1666-67
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