The Girl with a Pearl Earring – Vermeer's Mystery in Film

Good Questions, Strong Images – Our Approach to Cultural Productions

The Hague, Mauritshuis: For »Meisterwerke Revisited«, Basiliscus Film placed perhaps the most enigmatic female figure in art history at the centre of the story. Who is she? What is it about that gaze? We spoke with artists and art experts in front of Vermeer's original – and built an episode that asks questions rather than simply delivering answers.

Jan Vermeer's »Girl with a Pearl Earring« at the Mauritshuis in The Hague

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" from 1665 is Jan Vermeer's most famous painting. But why is this work so renowned? Why has this particular image embedded itself so firmly in our everyday lives? Its recognition value is enormous, regardless of the context in which we encounter it – whether as a reproduction on an art print, on a book cover, or as a motif in advertising.

To this day, the girl with the pearl is continually reintroduced and reimagined in new forms and with new meanings. Who was the girl with the pearl earring? This question continues to inspire artists such as Dorothee Golz. In her digital paintings, the girl depicted centuries ago becomes a modern young woman. We visited Dorothee Golz in Vienna and travelled to the Mauritshuis in The Hague to see the painting in the original.

A Journey Across Europe to the Icons of Art History – Storytelling and Our Series Concept

Ten paintings that everyone knows. Ten painters and their biographies. Ten masterworks of art history. Cited, reproduced, and received hundreds of thousands of times. In the series »Meisterwerke Revisited«, we travel to Europe's most renowned museums, present their most famous works, and offer a fresh perspective on each one.

What qualities does Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa fulfil to be considered an icon? Or Edvard Munch's The Scream? Advertising creatives, designers, artists, and art historians tell us why these old masterworks remain as relevant as ever – and share their own interpretations.

In the ten-part TV series »Meisterwerke Revisited«, Berlin-based film production company Basiliscus Film – commissioned by Deutsche Welle – dedicates each episode to one of ten paintings that have achieved cult status. Our camera team embarked on an in-depth journey across Europe to visit the most celebrated paintings in art history.