1. Johannes Vermeer Dutch (Denmark) Girl with a Pearl Earring
Oil on canvas,
17 1/2 x 15 3/8 in. (44.5 x 39 cm.) c
Baroque era
The Hague, The Royal Cabinet of Paintings, Mauritshuis

2. Notice value changes, notice scale
Up close look at the face of Girl with Pearl Earring

3. Johannes Vermeer The Milkmaid c. 1657-1658 Oil on canvas 45.5 X 41 cm
Baroque era
Rjiksmuseum, Amsterdam

4. Rendering of texture
The way texture is rendered refers to how an artist depicts the different materials in a painting. These materials are usually kinds of textile, as well as other various materials such metals, stones, furs etc.
Artists with an eye for rendering texture try to capture the appearance and structure of the material depicted as accurately as possible thereby imitating the real thing as closely as they can.

5. Girl reading a Letter at an Open Window
painting finished in 1657

6. Detail of curtain
Take in...
the texture
the points of light
the fact that a curtain in the 17th C represents a very intimate setting

7. Vermeer and Rembrandt set up the light in a specific point in the picture, but not any point, but the important one. Where the eyes have to be driven, where we should focus our attention. A very good example is in “Girl with a pearl earring” painting. We can consider that there are three main points of light: the face itself, the mouth lower lip and the earring. The important points are reflected with light.

8. Johannes Vermeer Girl with a Pearl Earring oil on canvas,
17 1/2 x 15 3/8 in. (44.5 x 39 cm.)
Baroque era
The Hague, The Royal Cabinet of Paintings, Mauritshuis

9. Proportion, shading, detail...
Up close look at the face of Girl with Pearl Earring

10. Johannes Vermeer The Art of Painting oil on canvas 130 cm x 110 cm
This painting is called The Art of Painting, but it is also known as The Allegory of Painting or Painter in his studio. Many experts in art believe that this work is an allegory of painting, and thus, the different titles.
Museum of Vienna

11. Say the color of the word