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).

Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring. Mauritshuis, The Hague.

	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