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An important feature of Vermeer’s paintings and something to which Griet is quite sensitive, light represents the potential for seeing and understanding the world. Light illuminates everything, but a person’s sight can be limited by their own biases, expectations, and desires. It thus relates to the book’s themes about the power of art to influence people and the difference between sight and blindness. Vermeer uses light and shadow to direct the eye in his paintings towards what he wants his viewers to see. In this way, it offers him some control over others’ sight and—in the case of Griet—actions and behavior. This also conversely suggests that what is not illuminated—the things that happen in the shadows—cannot be fully understood.
Light Quotes in Girl with a Pearl Earring
The Girl with a Pearl Earring quotes below all refer to the symbol of Light. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1: 1664
Quotes
I was about to blow out the candle when I noticed the painting hanging at the foot of my bed. I sat up, wide awake now. It was another picture of Christ on the Cross, smaller than the one upstairs but even more disturbing. Christ had thrown his head back in pain, and Mary Magdalene’s eyes were rolling. I lay back gingerly, unable to take my eyes off it. I could not imagine sleeping in the room with the painting. Finally I blew out the candle—I could not afford to waste candles on my first day in the new house. I lay back again, my eyes fixed to the place where I knew the painting hung.
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“But you have been in his studio— [but] you told us […] nothing about the painting he is working on. Describe it to me.”
“I don’t know if I can in such a way that you will be able to see it.”
“Try. […] It will give me pleasure to imagine a painting by a master, even if my mind creates a poor imitation.”
So I tried to describe the woman tying pearls around her neck, her hands suspended, gazing at herself in the mirror, the light from the window bating her face and her yellow mantle, the dark foreground that separated her from us.
My father listened intently, but his own face was not illuminated until I said, “The light on the back wall is so warm that looking at it feels the way the sun feels on your face.”
He nodded and smiled, please now that he understood.
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Get the entire Girl with a Pearl Earring LitChart as a printable PDF.
Light Symbol Timeline in Girl with a Pearl Earring
The timeline below shows where the symbol Light appears in Girl with a Pearl Earring. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: 1664
Griet climbs the stairs to visit her father, who sits by the light of the attic window. He used to paint tiles, but he lost both his eyes...
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...Frans, and Agnes used to sit and watch it change colors in the day’s shifting light. They made up stories about monstrous creatures lurking in its depths. A few boats pass...
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...the pantry, Vermeer reenters the house through the front door. He pauses, but with the light behind him, Griet cannot see his face or tell if he’s looking at her down...
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In the morning light, Griet examines the cellar more closely; she finds some spare furniture and two still-life paintings....
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...oil. Catharina instructs Griet to open some of the closed shutters to let in the light, warning her not to touch the table or chair in the right-hand corner of the...
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...to know if she should clean the windows—she’s afraid that doing so might change the light—and after consultation with Vermeer, Catharina tells her to leave them alone.
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...is missing, and the details are switched around. Vermeer explains that the camera’s lens captures light from the scene and projects an image of it inside the box, upside down and...
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...decision or not. He studies her intently as she stammers an apology for changing the light in the room. By the next morning, he’s starting on a new work.
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Chapter 2: 1665
...daughter, who has fallen ill. Vermeer has opened all the shutters, flooding the room with light. Griet begins to flush under his intense scrutiny, but she tries to quiet her thoughts...
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...young woman’s sexual favors to a gentleman. Vermeer positions a chair, opens the shutters for light, and asks Griet to sit. She hasn’t escaped; he intends to paint her.
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Chapter 3: 1666
...positions her in front of the window, looking over her shoulder at him with the light on her face. Griet tries to think of anything other than his gaze burning through...
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...it, she looks up to see him regarding her and Catharina—who is wearing the shining, light-catching pearl earrings—with his “painter’s look.”
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