Out of the blue: Vermeer’s use of ultramarine in Girl with a Pearl Earring

Abstract

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is known for his brilliant blue colours, and his frequent use of the costly natural ultramarine. This paper reveals new findings about ultramarine in the headscarf of Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665, Mauritshuis). The painting was examined using a range of micro-and macroscale techniques as part of the Girl in the Spotlight research project (2018). Analysis of micro-samples mounted as cross-sections using SEM-EDX and FTIR-ATR showed that Vermeer used high-quality ultramarine in the blue headscarf, based on the relative abundance of bright blue particles of lazurite. Analysis with synchrotron sulphur K-edge XANES suggested that the ultramarine pigment was prepared-at least in part-from a heat-treated lapis lazuli rock. The entire painting was imaged using MS-IRR, MA-XRF, RIS, and digital microscopy to reveal the distribution of materials of the headscarf, and to give more insight into Vermeer's painting process. The shadow part of the headscarf has a remarkably patchy appearance, due to paint degradation that is probably related to the large amounts of chalk Vermeer mixed in the ultramarine paint in this area. The question was raised as to whether extra chalk was added deliberately to the paint to adjust the handling properties or opacity, or whether the chalk was the substrate of a-now faded-yellow lake. Schematic paint reconstructions were made to investigate the effect of the addition of chalk or yellow lake on the paint properties. The analyses and reconstructions led to the hypothesis that the blue headscarf originally contained a wider range of different blue colour shades: an opaque light blue for the left (lit) zone, a slightly brighter opaque blue for the middle zone, and a deep dark blue-green glaze with alternating blue-green glazing brushstrokes for the shadow zone-now largely compromised by paint degradation.

Revealing the painterly technique beneath the surface of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring using macro- and microscale imaging

“…Micro X-ray powder diffraction (µXRPD) of cross-sections established that the average hydro cerussite to cerussite ratio is estimated as 0.88 ± 0.04, which is typical for Dutch stack process lead white [5]. Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) analysis confirmed the presence of chalk, lead white and a drying oil in the ground [6,7]. A fragment was analysed using thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation, pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (THM-Py-GC/MS), which determined that the binding medium of the ground is linseed oil.…”

“…Vermeer applied underlayers with different colours and thicknesses in various parts of Girl with a Pearl Earring: black on one side of her headscarf [7], black beneath the background [8], and light pinkish-yellow beneath her skin [6]. As these distinct areas do not usually overlap, it is difficult to establish the precise order in which they were applied.…”

“…This helps to answer the third research question posed by the Girl in the Spotlight project: Which techniques did Vermeer use to create subtle optical effects, including the transition between light and shadow? The role of the underlayers in other areas of the painting are discussed in greater detail in other articles in this digital volume [5][6][7][8].…”

Imaging secondary reaction products at the surface of Vermeer’s Girl with the Pearl Earring by means of macroscopic X-ray powder diffraction scanning

“…Vermeer painted the blue headscarf with ultramarine (lazurite), which he also mixed into the dark yellow paint in her jacket and yellow headscarf. In the bright blue part on the left side of her headscarf, the ultramarine was mixed with lead white, which explains the visible contrast in brightness between the left (lit) and right (shadow) sides [27]. Lead white, a mixture of hydrocerussite (2PbCO 3 ·Pb(OH) 2 ) and cerussite (PbCO 3 ), has also been used throughout the entirety of the Girl's face.…”

Infrared Synchrotron Radiation and Its Application to the Analysis of Cultural Heritage

“…The pieces are analyzed by many experimental techniques, to characterize the materials and investigate the conditions. IR analysis is often used for the analysis both in the mid-IR and THz region, using conventional source [1][2][3][4][5][6]. IR-SR provides high spatial resolutions, especially in the mid-IR region, which has played critical roles for the analysis of small fragments of cultural heritage 2 of 9 materials [7][8][9].…”