
Fans and scholars might be surprised to learn that the earring in Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (1664–67) may have been an imitation gem. The work is one of the Dutch artist’s most iconic paintings and was inspired by a 1995 historical novel that was adapted into a 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. This discovery is one of many explored by the Rijksmuseum’s Vermeer retrospective, which opened on February 10.
Vermeer bringing together new research and 28 paintings, many of which institutions