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Vermeer departed from his normal scheme of silhouetting figures against a white wall and placed her against a plain, black background. (Examples: Young Women With a Water Jar, Women With A Pearl Necklace, etc.) Dutch artists traditionally painted such type of portraits, a tronie in this case, against dark backgrounds to enhance the three-dimensional effect because black backgrounds tend to recede the figures. Even though Vermeer painted in a patient manner for this painting, he did not define his forms with precise lines. The use of color on the girl's eyes, lips and nose are modeled with gently modulated tones of colors. This painting is clearly a portrait of a girl, but the features are purified to a level that one does not think that this figure is representing a specific individual. His image was idealized and refined. .
How does his work reflect the mood of the artist?.
The moods generated by Vermeer's paintings were very unique during his time period. During the era of the Baroque Age, Vermeer was an artist that encapsulated the idea of bringing emotion into his paintings. By the 17th century, artists began to shift the focus of art from solely religious and educational to depicting dramatic emotion in the real world. In his paintings, Vermeer took the techniques and artistic concepts of his time and placed his own, personal touch on them. In Girl with a Pearl Earring, Vermeer shows the concentration of his personality and emotion. By looking deeply into this painting, one will see how Vermeer's creative ability captivates the heart and mind through the simple image of a fleeting moment in time. .
He captured every single detail of a girl's action and painted the most touching scene. We now have very limited reliable resources to learn about his temperament, his ambitions, or his intentions, which would help explain his artistic vision. Most of Vermeer's art works are portraits of people; therefore, the moods are usually very quiet and graceful.