The beloved painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring” will be displayed in Japan for the first time in 14 years, starting on Friday. The masterpiece was created in the 17th century by the Dutch master Johannes Vermeer.
In recent years, some clues have been found to explain what makes the painting so popular with viewers. Research has shown that the details in the work encourage viewers to give “sustained visual attention” to the painting.
In 2024, a team, including Dutch neuroscientists and a research firm, showed five paintings to 20 men and women, and examined their eye movements and brain responses.
The works included “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and another painting by Vermeer, “View of Delft,” as well as “Self-Portrait” by Rembrandt.
Those who viewed “Girl with a Pearl Earring” tended to first look at the girl’s eyes and her mouth, and then the pearl, before going back to the eyes again in a “visual loop.”
The team also found that the part of the brain involving emotions and memory was most active when viewers looked at the “Girl” painting.
Seeing the original work itself was also found to be important. When the viewers were shown same-size replicas of the five paintings, their feelings of attachment to the original were five times stronger in the case of “Girl.”
The team concluded that sustained visual attention stimulates deeper personal engagement.
The research firm’s Martin de Munnik says this long period of looking closely is what makes “Girl with a Pearl Earring” such an attractive painting for everyone.