Identity of Vermeer’s famous “Girl with a Pearl Earring” has been discovered

British art expert Andrew Graham-Dixon believes he has identified the famous figure depicted in Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s masterpiece “Girl with a Pearl Earring” — and it’s not who most scholars thought.

The mystery surrounding the identity of the enigmatic protagonist of the famous painting Johannes Vermeer has intrigued art historians for centuries.

Now, a British art historian believes he has finally discovered who the mysterious girl was depicted in the iconic painting ““, created around 1665 — a work that, over time, has been the subject of conjecture and debate, especially about the young woman’s true identity.

For years, it has been suggested that it could it is Vermeer’s daughteror perhaps one of your maids. But the expert Andrew Graham-Dixon claims to have discovered the model’s true identitymaintaining that the young woman portrayed would have been the daughter of Vermeer’s patrons, Pieter Claesz van Ruijven and Maria de Knuijt.

In an article published in , the historian and expert on Vermeer refutes the most popular theories which pointed to the young woman being the painter’s eldest daughter, Maria, or one of his maids.

Instead, it is based on the fact that the painting was created for its patrons, Pieter Claesz van Ruijven and Maria de Knuijt.

According to Graham-Dixon, the girl would be around 12 years old. Although Vermeer’s eldest daughter, born in 1654, was that age at the time, the historian considers unlikely that the artist portrayed his own daughter in a work intended for another couple.

Therefore, he argues that the model would have to be someone with special importance for van Ruijven and de Knuijt. “There is only one plausible candidate: their daughter, Magdalena van Ruijven”, concludes Graham-Dixon.

Magdalena was born in 1655, which would place her precisely around 12 years old at the time the painting was created. His parents were deeply religious and belonged to the evangelical Christian group Remonstratinga community currently with around 6,000 members in the Netherlands.

At 12 years old, Magdalena could have reached the age of baptism and made his commitment to the Church — and the painting could have been commissioned as way to mark this passage.

“The painting could have been done before or after the baptism, so it is likely that it was completed in 1667 or 1668,” says Graham-Dixon.

According to Graham-Dixon, the central symbolism of the painting It is biblical in nature. Furthermore, he believes that there is only one figure in Scripture that Magdalena van Ruijven could represent: Mary Magdalene.

First of all, the young girl was baptized with the name Magdalena, precisely in tribute to Mary Magdalene — a deeply venerated figure among the Remonstrants.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Vermeer inspired by the story of Mary Magdalene in works commissioned by Magdalena’s parents. In one of the first paintings commissioned by this couple, The Sleeping Maidthe painter would also have used the narrative of Mary Magdalene, notes Graham-Dixon.

Furthermore, the historian believes that this reading explains the enigmatic expression of the girl in the painting, says . Vermeer may have sought to portray the biblical moment in which Mary Magdalene enters Jesus’ tomb and sees him resurrected — first without understanding what he observes and then recognizing the truth.

Not all experts, however, subscribe to the theory by Graham-Dixon. Speaking to , the art historian Ruth Millington states that the portrait does not represent a real person and that art should not always be interpreted in a biographical way.

“Art historians love to announce new discoveriesbut this theory has been around for some time,” says Millington.

“Specialists like Dr. Judith Noorman they had already argued that the daughter of Vermeer’s patron would be the real Girl with a Pearl Earring. The artists they like to leave us guessing — that’s what makes us look at the painting again and again”, he concludes.