Elkins' version of "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Johannes vermeer 1665

---

This masterwork by Vermeer is the reason I developed such an interest in learning to paint in oil. I became obsessed with Vermeer and the mysteries surrounding his techniques. And this painting in particular captured my imagination. In Europe, it is referred to as "The Mona Lisa of the North".  It was created in 1665 and resides at the Maurithuis Museum in The Hague,  Holland.  I was able to see the piece in person while it was on traveling exhibit in NYC several years ago. It is surprisingly small at ~18 x 15 inches. It took me eight years and four attempts to complete a version I could live with. But Vermeer is untouchable. Many have suggested he used optical devices to achieve his visual affects. Whatever the case, he left us with precious few authenticated works, all of which are awe inspiring in their artistic and technical perfection.  Some history on Vermeer's original below:

Girl with a Pearl Earring  is an oil painting by Dutch Golden Age painter, Johannes Vermeer.

The painting is a tronie, the Dutch 17th-century description of a 'head' that was not meant to be a portrait. It depicts a European girl wearing an exotic dress, an oriental turban, and an improbably large pearl earring. In 2014, Dutch astrophysicist, Vincent Icke, raised doubts about the material of the earring and argued that it looks more like polished tin than pearl on the grounds of the spectacular reflection, the pear shape and the large size of the earring.