Girl with a Blog
Hi, I’m Abbie Vandivere, a paintings conservator at the Mauritshuis, and the head researcher of the Girl in the Spotlight project. On this page I have been blogging and posting photos daily to update you on the technical examination of the Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Between 26 February and 12 March 2018, an international team of scientists, conservators and researchers have undertaken a technical examination of our most beloved painting.
The research project is a Mauritshuis initiative, with a team of internationally recognised specialists working within the collaborative framework of the Netherlands Institute for Conservation, Art and Science (NICAS), including Rijksmuseum, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE).
Title | Subject | |
1 | Who's that girl | Introduction to research project |
2 | Preparing for the exam | What will happen in the Golden Room |
3 | Beauty is more than skin deep | Samples / Imaging |
4 | How much is the Girl worth? | 1903-1960 restorations |
5 | Vermeer illuminated | 1994 treatment |
6 | Say cheese | Technical photography |
7 | A blank canvas | Canvas |
8 | From the ground up | Ground |
9 | Watching paint dry | Oil |
10 | Art supply and demand | Paint, and where materials come from |
11 | Seeing red | Vermilion and cochineal |
12 | It's all there in black and white | Blacks and lead white |
13 | Background check | Background |
14 | Up close and personal | Under the microscope |
15 | Contouring, highlighting and blending | Skin |
16 | Dressed to impress | Yellow and browns |
17 | Out of the blue | Blues |
18 | Glazed over | Glazes and varnish |
19 | You’re cracking me up | Cracks |
20 | Wrap-up | Wrap-up |