Reagan's Art F200 Blog

  Introduction:          Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 1665 tronie painting by Johannes Vermeer, created in the Netherlands. It was lost for over 200 years, sold for a very low price, and eventually rediscovered. Today, it resides in the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague. I first encountered this piece during my junior year of high school through my writing teacher. I find it beautiful for its simplicity—it's not overwhelming, yet it holds meaning. The pearl earring symbolizes status, wealth, and exotic beauty, while her turban and non-Western attire highlight her cultural sophistication. Scholars suggest that the painting represents the blending of Eastern and Western traditions through trade routes. I would love to have this piece in my own home.         Johannes Vermeer ' s Girl with a Pearl Earring is  a   legendary ,  enigmatic  portrait  dubbed   the " Mona Lisa of the North ." The youn...

About the Artist:         Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, artist, and so much more from the Renaissance times. He was born near Florence as the son of a notary and a peasant maiden. He apprenticed with Verrocchio, also an Italian artist. He traveled from Milan to Rome, to Bologna, to Venice, and finally to France in the court of King François I. Vinci was known as the "Renaissance man.” He created several beautiful famous masterpieces, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Even though less than three dozen of his paintings survived, some pieces, like the Vitruvian Man, and his copious notebooks lasted centuries. Leonardo's engineering plans, such as the helicopter and tank, were centuries ahead of his time but were not investigated mainly. Others, such as a bobbin winder, were taken to industry. His scientific investigations enriched anatomy, engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ...