Description
Woman with a Pearl Necklace is a quiet scene by Johannes Vermeer from about 1664: a young woman in a yellow ermine-trimmed jacket stands at a table by a window, holding up the two yellow ribbons of a pearl necklace and looking at herself in a small mirror on the wall. Behind her stretches a wide, bright, empty white wall, and in the shadowed foreground a dark cloth, a Chinese jar and a basin lie on the table. The original, oil on canvas, is 55 cm high and 45 cm wide and belongs to the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. Our painter paints it by hand in oil colours on canvas, in one of 8 portrait sizes from 40 x 49 to 172 x 200 cm or made to measure, and before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished work.
| Title: | Woman with a Pearl Necklace |
| Other titles: | Vrouw met parelsnoer · Junge Dame mit Perlenhalsband |
| Painter: | Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) |
| Year painted: | c. 1664 |
| Original size: | 55 cm x 45 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, Dutch Golden Age |
| Located at: | Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (acc. no. 912B) |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Woman with a Pearl Necklace – Johannes Vermeer
What does Woman with a Pearl Necklace show?
The scene takes place in a bright room. A young woman stands by the table, turned towards the window on the left, holding in both hands two yellow ribbons from which a string of pearls hangs. She may be tying the necklace on, or simply trying it before she goes out.
Her gaze rests on a small black-framed mirror hanging beside the window. She wears a yellow jacket edged with ermine, and pearl earrings.
At the far left a yellow curtain is drawn back, and the window behind it closely resembles the one in Vermeer’s Young Woman with a Water Pitcher. Much of the canvas belongs to the white wall, where nothing hangs except the mirror.
In the shadowed foreground a deep blue cloth covers the table, with a Chinese jar, a water basin, a comb and a powder brush. Light enters from the left, as in most of Vermeer’s interiors, and gathers in the yellow fabric and the pearls.
What is the scene at the mirror about?
A woman at her morning toilet was a favourite subject of Dutch painters at the time. Vermeer narrows it to a single moment: the girl pauses with her hands raised and studies herself, as if checking whether the pearls suit her.
The mirror can be read in more than one way. It may stand for vanity or for feminine power; some historians, as the Essential Vermeer website reports, see in it a vanitas motif, a reminder of death. Which reading is right cannot be settled.
The basin, comb and powder brush on the table may also hint at criticism of idle, well-off young women with time for small pursuits. The black mirror frame is probably ebony, and together with the fur jacket it points to a wealthy household.
The same young woman appears on other canvases, among them The Love Letter, and as a writer looking up at us in A Lady Writing a Letter.
Why does this painting hold the eye so strongly?
What matters most is what is missing: the broad white wall behind the girl is almost bare, so nothing pulls the eye from her face, hands and necklace.
Vermeer handled paint with patience. Under the microscope, the fur trim of the jacket shows many thin layers of grey and white, which he used to suggest soft pelt. For his blues he probably used costly pigment made from lapis lazuli, though only in tiny amounts.
The painting even made an appearance in the 1981 film Arthur, where one of the characters unwraps it as a newly bought work of art. More on style and meaning is in the Wikipedia article (in English).
Where is the original of Woman with a Pearl Necklace?
The original is in Berlin, in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie, part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The museum lists it under inventory number 912B.
The canvas is 55 cm high and 45 cm wide, a fairly small size, meant to be seen from close enough to make out the tiny pearls and the edge of the fur.
Woman with a Pearl Necklace or another Vermeer?
Woman with a Pearl Necklace is a calm canvas painting for a bedroom, a dressing room or the corner by a dressing table, and its light tones also freshen a darker hallway.
If you like a woman alone in a quiet room, look too at Woman Holding a Balance. For absorbed reading choose Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, while the same yellow jacket by the window carries music into Woman with a Lute.
The other famous Vermeer paintings we make, from views of Delft to music scenes, are gathered on the Johannes Vermeer page.
How does our painter paint your Woman with a Pearl Necklace?
Once the order is confirmed, the painter lays warm grey and brown base tones and places the window, table and figure. He then builds the white wall in several layers, bright but never flat.
Next comes the yellow jacket with its soft folds and ermine edge, shaped with thin grey and white glazes. The finest work comes last: the small pearls, the gleam on the Chinese jar and the yellow ribbons between her fingers.
The result is a Vermeer reproduction in which every brushstroke stays visible, something no print can offer. Like any oil painting reproduction, it lives with the light in your room: the white wall looks cooler in the morning and warms up in the afternoon.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 40 x 49 or 50 x 64 cm for a bedside table or a narrow wall, 58 x 70 or 71 x 91 cm above a dressing table or a chest of drawers, 89 x 114 or 114 x 146 cm above a sofa, and 130 x 162 or 172 x 200 cm for a tall wall or a stairwell.
There are 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 40 x 49, 50 x 64, 58 x 70, 71 x 91, 89 x 114, 114 x 146, 130 x 162 and 172 x 200 cm. The nearest to the original is 40 x 49 cm, which is 5 cm narrower and 6 cm shorter.
Small sizes keep the scene private; in large ones the painted white wall seems to continue into yours. As a painting for the living room above a sofa, 89 x 114 cm works well; hang it with the lower edge about 20 cm above the backrest.
Can I choose another size or a frame?
Of course. The original is about 9 : 11 in proportion, so we can paint it in an unlisted size without losing the window or the table at the edge. Write to us with the width and height you want, and we reply with price and timing.
You can receive it rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or ready framed; our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing for all our paintings. The frame is chosen in our 3D application, which serves only that choice; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
A slim dark frame echoes the black frame of the painted mirror, while a warm gold frame brings out the yellow jacket and the curtain.
When will Woman with a Pearl Necklace arrive?
As soon as you confirm the order we begin painting, and in 15 to 45 working days the painting is ready to ship. Before it leaves you receive a photograph of the finished work; if you would like anything changed, we see to it.
The parcel crosses no customs border on its way to Slovenia or any other EU country, and our returns policy applies to every order.
Woman with a Pearl Necklace makes a lovely gift for someone who loves jewellery, fashion or quiet interiors. If you would rather they chose the size themselves, give them a wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
At the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
What is the woman doing?
She is tying a pearl necklace with yellow ribbons while looking at herself in the mirror by the window.
Is it a print?
No, each one is a hand-painted copy, made with a brush and oil colours on canvas.
How big is the original?
It is 55 cm high and 45 cm wide; our nearest size is 40 x 49 cm.
Can I have it in a different size?
Yes, we also paint it in a size you set, and tell you the price in advance.
How long does it take to make?
From 15 to 45 working days, after which we ship it, with no customs inside the EU.
Would it suit a bedroom?
Yes, its light tones and morning-dressing theme suit a bedroom.
What does the mirror mean?
Perhaps vanity or feminine power, perhaps a reminder of transience; there is no certain answer.
- Subject: a young woman in a yellow ermine-trimmed jacket ties a pearl necklace before a mirror by the window.
- Original: c. 1664, oil on canvas, 55 x 45 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
- Ours: oil on canvas, painted by hand to order, in 8 portrait sizes from 40 x 49 to 172 x 200 cm or a size you choose.
- Worth knowing: the same girl in the same yellow jacket turns up in other canvases by Vermeer.
