Copyright by Laura Mareike Sager 2006 - The University of Texas at ...

Griet’s verbal (though unuttered) ekphrasis (her interior monologue about the
painting), but also the two women's subsequent discussion about the painting in
the novel's dialog, and their aesthetic connection through the work.
In the novel, Griet describes Woman with a Pearl Necklace on two other
occasions. Soon after she has seen it for the first time, she explains it to her now
blind father, who deeply admires Vermeer. This exchange necessitates that she
forego external description in favor of an interpretive simile of the feeling the
painted light evokes. Only then can Griet’s ekphrasis achieve enargeia, the
aesthetic skill of making the listener see the image in his mind’s eyes: “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’” (47). Again, this scene underscores not only Griet’s artistic sensibilities
but also the importance of private intimacy in the reflection on art. Because the
film reduces her family’s role, it has no equivalent for this scene. Griet’s parents
appear only once, when they meet their daughter’s future husband after church.
By thus limiting their role to this one social encounter, the film relinquishes the
function of the family as intimate recipient of Griet’s personally shared encounter
with Vermeer’s art in favor of the film’s overall emphasis on class-bound social
relationships.
Similarly, in the novel, Griet’s third ekphrasis of Woman With a Pearl
Necklace underscores the importance of private artistic contemplation while the
film foregrounds the relationship and nascent intimacy between the maid and the
artist. In both the novel and the film, this scene represents the first encounter
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