THE identity of the Girl with the Pear Earring painting has been discovered.
The famous oil painting by the Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer, is of a young girl in 1665 – whose identity had not been known until now.
The Girl with the pearl earring currently sits at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, the Netherlands
Experts believe Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek, well known for his discoveries with the microscope, is the man posing in Vermeer’s painting The Geographer
The revelation comes from British art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon writing for the Times, who suggests that the girl is Magdelena, the daughter of Vermeer’s financier.
The Girl with a Pear Earring is currently at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, The Netherlands, with insured at a value of £147m.
Graham-Dixon said in the Sunday Times that he discovered the girl to be the daughter of Vermeer’s chief financier.
A friend of the art historian, working on his behalf, found the previously unknown location of Vermeer’s chief financier’s residency.
Vermeer’s financial contributors, Maria de Knuijt and her husband, Pieter Claesz van Ruijven, lived at a house called the Golden Eagle, which they filled with his most famous paintings.
Maria and Pieter were both Remonstrants, Dutch protestants, and hung Vermeer’s pictures on their walls that reflected their most deeply cherished beliefs – particularly the Girl with a pearl Earring.
Maria was also part of a radical splinter group known as the Collegiants and held regular meetings at the Golden Eagle.
The girl sitting in the painting has been variously assumed to be a servant or Vermeer’s eldest daughter, but since his death in 1697, it had not been confirmed.
Graham-Dixon said: “Vermeer’s eldest daughter, Maria, was born in 1654 but why would he paint a biblically inspired portrait of his own child for the house of his patrons?
“Considering that the picture was made for them, it is a fair assumption that the sitter was someone they knew and cared about.
“There is only one plausible candidate: their daughter, Magdalena van Ruijven.”
Visitors viewing painting by Johannes Vermeer, The Milkmaid, at Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam in Holland
The painting is of Vermeer’s patron’s daughter, Magdalena
Magdalena was born in October 1655, and so would have been around the same age of the girl depicted in the painting.
Graham-Dixon assumes that Magdalena, like her parents, participated in the the Collegiant movement and had a commitment to Christ.
One of the first pictures commissioned from Vermeer by Magdalena’s mother, A Maid Asleep, was inspired by Mary Magdalene – a significant figure in the New testament who followed Jesus and was present at his crucifixion and resurrection.
The art historian said Magdalena had been named for Mary Magdalene, like her grandmother before her, and is meant to illustrate the biblical figure in the painting.
Graham-Dixon said: “The pear at her ear is impossibly large because it is no simple jewel but a reflection of the state of her soul, bursting with joy and irradiated with divine light.
“She is the first person in history to see the risen Christ, to speak with him, to grasp the sheer scale of all that his presence embodies.”
“Vermeer’s picture was there to summon and sustain that moment daily, directing Magdalena’s prayers and placing her always in the presence of Christ.”
The Girl with a Flute is one of two works on wooden supports that can be linked to Vermeer
The person that made the discovery of the Girl with the Pearl Earring’s identity was a British art historian