Diálogos Transdisciplinares em Girl with a Pearl Earring: a Arte ...

mostra insatisfeito com o efeito final do quadro, "...’This will satisfy Van Ruijven,
but not me’” (202).
Pela primeira vez, Griet contempla o seu rosto no quadro, e percebe antes que
Vermeer o que falta (o ponto brilhante que ele usa em todos os seus quadros para
captar a visão – neste caso, os brincos de pérola), mas mantém-se em silêncio,
sabia as conseqüências do seu ato:
“The painting was like none of his others. It was just of me, of my head and
shoulders, with no tables or curtains, no windows or powderbrushes to soften and
distract. He had painted me with my eyes wide, the light falling across my face
but the left side of me in shadow. I was wearing blue and yellow and brown. The
cloth wound round my head made me look not like myself, but like Griet from
another town, even from another country altogether. The background was black,
making me appear very much alone, although I was clearly looking at someone. I
seemed to be waiting for something I did not think would ever happen” (202-
203).
e tem a mesma impressão:
“He was right – the painting might satisfy Van Ruijven, but something was
missing from it. I knew before he did. When I saw what was needed – that point
of brightnes he had used to catch the eye in other paintings – I shivered. This will
be the end, I thought. I was right” (203).
O ponto brilhante que faltava no quadro - como sabiam Vermeer e Griet - eram os
brincos de pérola de Catharina, apesar de ter plena consciência do escândalo que
isso acarretaria, pois o uso de pérolas assinala uma status social, aqui Griet,
expressa o seu desejo de ser honrada, mas Vermeer se mostra inteiramente
insensível às ponderações da criada. Na opinião da historiadora de Arte, Cibelli:
“This contributed to Chevalier’s assertion that the painting as not about material wealth
but about the character and interior thoughts and passions of the model” (588).
Logo após a conversa dos dois, Griet está trocando o turbante no quarto de
despejo, quando Vermeer a surpreende com os cabelos soltos: