Scripta 9_2_link_final.pdf - Uniandrade

The excerpt starts from van Ruijven’s obsession with Griet expressed
in the description of The Girl with a Wine Glass. During the negotiation of
Vermeer’s next commission, The Concert, it is agreed that Griet will be
portrayed alone, and not beside van Ruijven, in order to avoid pregnant
Catharina’s jealousy. Griet, though relieved and excited, is aware of the
drawbacks her proximity to Vermeer might bring her.
According to the novel, they start the project on the first day of the
year. Vermeer had already laid the first coat of paint on the canvas, no
“reddish marks,” “false colors,” or even the luminous spots as usual. The
canvas is an empty “yellowish white” (CHEVALIER, 1999, p. 177). Vermeer
asks Griet to read a letter. She considers telling him that the paper is blank,
but chooses to stay quiet. He suggests a book, but concludes that the problem
is in her clothes. She suggests that he paint her as a maid but he refuses:
“What do you want, sir?” I asked, sitting. I was puzzled – we never sat
together. I shivered, although I was not cold.
“Don’t talk.” He opened a shutter so that the light fell directly on my face.
“Look out of the window.” He sat down in his chair by the easel.
I gazed at the New Church tower and swallowed. I could feel my jaw
tightening and my eyes widening.
“Now look at me.” (CHEVALIER, 1999, p. 168-69)
Griet turns her head over her shoulder to face the painter. He asks
her to sit still. She realizes that she is actually being painted by Vermeer.
Only a month later did they continue the modeling. After much negotiation
over the composition of the painting, the master states that he “will paint
[her] as [he] first saw [her], Griet. Just [her]” (CHEVALIER, 1999, p. 179-80).
The painter and the model negotiate the composition of the portrait:
the clothes, the blue and yellow turban instead of the traditional maid’s cap,
the body turned towards the window, the gaze of her wide open eyes, the
glossy lips, and, finally, the pearl earring. The painter worries in particular
about the way the light is reflected on the model’s face. Griet, the fictional
model, was highly aware of it the whole time; she knows that what really
matters to him is the final result as requested by his patron. The girl is
important only as his muse and not as a woman. While she does not fight
her feelings towards the painter, Griet follows the natural course of her life
outside of the studio, as evidenced in the excerpt below:
Scripta Uniandrade, v. 9, n. 2, jul.-dez. 2011 21