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

Abstract

The initial steps that Johannes Vermeer took to create Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665) are, partially or completely, hidden beneath the painted surface. Vermeer's painting technique involved applying underlayers that vary in colour and thickness, on top of which he applied the upper paint layer(s). To investigate the painting's genesis, the Girl was examined using non-invasive scientific imaging as part of the project The Girl in the Spotlight (2018). This was complemented by the re-examination of existing paint cross-sections using microscopic analytical techniques, including focused ion beam-scanning transmission electron microscopy (FIB-STEM). The weave of the canvas, visible in the X-radiograph, was examined using a new computer-assisted thread-level canvas analysis algorithm to measure the thread spacing and thread angles. The canvas was primed with a warm light grey ground, although probably not by Vermeer himself. The tinted ground provided neutral base tone upon which he began to lay in areas of light and shade in his composition, and some outlines around the figure. Multispectral infrared reflectography( MS-IRR) images in four spectral bands spanning the spectral range from 900 to 2500 nm were collected of the painting at high spatial resolution (50 µm/pixel). Visible 3D digital microscopy visualised the underlayers where Vermeer left them visible around the perimeter of the figure as a contour, and where the upper paint layers are thin. These infrared reflectograms and visible micrographs identified three distinct preparatory phases of Girl with a Pearl Earring: the ground, fine black outlines, and underlayers. Some pentimenti were also detected, including a change in the position of her ear. The combination of examination methods showed that the materials beneath the surface played an important role in establishing the three-dimensional space, fall of light, and the eventual colour in different areas of the painting.

Mapping the pigment distribution of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring

“…If the underlayer is absorbing in the NIR, then the NIR reflectance should decrease, as is observed here. These results are in agreement with earlier findings about the underlayers beneath the headscarf: a black underpaint is present beneath the shadow part, and the left (lit) side was painted directly onto the grey ground, which contains carbon black [20]. While the RIS image cube is useful for determining the distribution of ultramarine, in this case it is harder to discern the distribution of lead white due to absorption from the dark underlayer and ground.…”

“…New research from the 2018 Girl in the Spotlight project confirmed that an infrared-absorbing underlayer lies beneath the entire background [20]. Vandivere et al ; c False-colour spectral unmixing map displaying the distribution of fluorescence endmember spectra shown in e, including the 'red' endmember with 620 nm emission peak, the 'blue' endmember with 707 nm emission peak, and the 'green' endmember with a slowly decreasing emission intensity; d raw fluorescence emission spectra from the FIS data cube from which the endmember spectra (e) were calculated to make the map in c; e Endmembers used for spectral unmixing.…”

Johannes Vermeer’s Mistress and Maid: new discoveries cast light on changes to the composition and the discoloration of some paint passages

“…The brown-black layer observed in the samples FC5a, FC7a and FC9a by Kühn is an indication of Vermeer's practice of beginning his compositions in neutral dark tones, and has subsequently been observed in other studies on Vermeer paintings [9][10][11]. This layer is similar to the dark undermodelling present in the three samples taken for the present study.…”

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

“…In Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665, Mauritshuis) ( Fig. 1a), Vermeer used ultramarine extensively in the Girl's headscarf, and mixed with other pigments in the shadows of her yellow jacket [6][7][8]. A trace amount of ultramarine was also found in the pink flesh paint.…”

“…MS-IRR was able to visualise the black carbon-containing underlayers. The extension towards longer wavelengths allows penetration beneath lead white-containing surface paint layers [7]. MA-XRF mapped the distribution of chemical elements in the paint layers of the headscarf, from which pigments could be inferred [13].…”