I went to a screening of the film Girl with a Pearl Earring and Other Treasures from the Mauritshuis at the National Gallery of Scotland on Friday, sheltering from the snow in the comfort of the Hawthornden Lecture Theatre to see what was billed as "a gripping detective story and a visual feast". I'd take issue with the first part of that description, although some footage was devoted to the 'recent' history of Vermeer's masterpiece, its restoration, and its place in the canon, but as is so perfectly exploited in Tracy Chevalier's novel*, even now little is known about the work.
A visual feast it certainly was, however, as the film took in other works by Vermeer, together with - as its title suggests - many more of the Girl's companions in the Mauritshuis from The Goldfinch to Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (note the theme developing here as all these paintings have featured in novels). Hugh Bonneville provided some of the narration, Tracy Chevalier herself was in it, and art historians many and various gave expert commentary. Although this review is a bit sniffy, I think it's well worth seeing if you get the chance.
*which I thoroughly recommend.
