Many artists put hidden meanings in their paintings and Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer was one of them. Vermeer was unknown during his lifetime creating as few as 36 paintings and including his most famous, Girl with a Pearl Earring. He had two known trademarks in his paintings, the first was his realistic performance of figures. The cause of his paintings led back to his Dutch lineage.The Dutch took everyday life and chores in high esteem which is why Johannes Vermeer took great detail to the figures shown in his paintings. His second trademark was his use of luminous light in his artwork. Many angles of light are seen in his paintings, creating a three dimensional and realistic picture. Even though Johannes Vermeer’s work was unknown during…show more content… Deborah H. Cibelli (2oo4) had stated, “...the subtle color scheme along with the Vermeer’s lighting choice gave his painting, Girl with a Pearl Earring, a three dimensional and color contrasting look.” The background of the famous painting compared to the colors of the girl differentiates and bring the viewer’s eyes to the bright colors. The background shows a dark black and green setting with no distinct objects. The girl displays a blue and gold turban around her head to hide her hair and plain brown clothes that a maid would wear. The pearl earring stands out from the rest of the painting due to the fact that Vermeer painted it to seem like the light is shining off of it. The light Johannes Vermeer used in the painting is seen mostly in the center of this painting and directs the viewer’s attention straight to it. As light shines onto the girl’s face, it bounces off and gives it a three dimensional look, designing the light on the girl's face to stand out. This painting was one of the six that was used in Vermeer’s Camera Obscura machine. The precision of light was perfectly placed on the angles of the girls face, making a very logical explanation that Vermeer had help from another source. The fact of using a light machine was not uncommon in the 17th century and explains how his precision of light angles to be as realistic as they
