The novel traces the execution of the painting, the parallel growth of feelings between the artist and his subject and the consequential development of suspicion and jealousy amongst other members of the household. Many theories have been put forward as to the identity of the subject in Girl with a Pearl Earring – some have said it was Vermeer’s daughter Maria, wearing a whimsical Turkish head-dress that was found amongst Vermeer’s belongings when he died others have suggested that it might even have been his wife, but Chevalier chooses as her model Griet, a servant girl in the Vermeer household. In the painting 'The Kitchen Maid' for example, one cannot help but speculate about what the maid is thinking as she hears the splash of the milk in the bowl in the 'Lady in Blue reading a Letter' we ask ourselves if the letter is perhaps from an absent lover, our thoughts fuelled by a number of hints put in by Vermeer - an empty chair, a map of the world suggesting a lover in some far-off land, and the fact that the lady looks as if she might be pregnant. It is difficult to look upon one of his works without both wondering at his technical skill and wanting to know more about the men and, more commonly, the women, who populate it. Vermeer was an inspired choice as a subject because he is so enigmatic: very few biographical details are known about him, which allows plenty of scope for invention, and his paintings, though seemingly about everyday subjects, often have a mysterious, even poignant quality. Tracy Chevalier is, without doubt, best known for her hugely successful novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring (1999), which ingeniously combines historical fact with imagination to tell the story behind the painting of the same name by the 17th-century Dutch genre painter, Jan Vermeer.
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