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Girl with pearl earring by Vermeer, glancing over her shoulder in a turban with a glowing pearl. An art printable for kids and families; free PDF.
Printable sheet
Free for personal and educational use
Download PDFPrintA young woman turning her head toward us, with a turban flowing down her back, a large pearl earring and a jacket with a white collar.
Color the turban blue and yellow and leave a white highlight on the pearl.
Imagine who the girl was and write what she was thinking as she turned.
The painting inspired a best-selling novel and a movie that made it even more famous.
The girl with pearl earring painting is the most famous work by Johannes Vermeer, a Dutch artist who lived in the city of Delft in the 1600s. He painted it around 1665, and today it is the star of the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, the Netherlands, where it is sometimes called the Mona Lisa of the North.
It looks like a portrait, but it is not quite one. It is a tronie, a Dutch term for a study of a face or character, often dressed in striking or exotic clothing. No one knows who sat for Vermeer, and that mystery is part of the painting's magic.
The turban is one of its most special details. To paint the blue, Vermeer used ultramarine, a pigment made by grinding lapis lazuli, a stone shipped all the way from Afghanistan that cost more than gold. He used it generously, which was unusual at the time.
The pearl is a clever trick, too. It is made with just a few brushstrokes, a bright white highlight on top and a soft reflection below, yet it looks completely real. The dark background makes the girl's face glow as if she is stepping out of the shadows, lips parted as though she is about to speak.
