Girl with a Pearl Earring Summary
Tracy Chevalier

Girl with a Pearl Earring Summary

The Girl with a Pearl Earring is the story of Griet, a sixteen-year old girl who is hired by the famous painter, Vermeer, to clean his studio. The novel opens with Vermeer and his disheveled -wife, Catharina, visiting Griet's family to have a look at the girl they hope to hire. Griet has been cutting vegetables for the soup and has separated them by color in a wheel: turnips, carrots, leeks, red cabbage, and onion. She places the vegetables in this order because, she claims, otherwise the colors fight each other. Vermeer is intrigued by Griet's natural artistic interest and hires her on the spot. It is clear, even from this opening scene, that Vermeer and Griet have a connection and that Catharina is annoyed by it. Griet is forced into work when her father, a tile painter, loses his eyes in a kiln explosion and she needs to help... View more of the Girl with a Pearl Earring Summary