LeftCoastKenny

Man with a Pearl Earring

There’s actually some dispute about whether or not it was a pearl. A few years ago a Dutch astrophysicist, Vincent Icke, argued it was not.

A pearl consists of thin layers of calcite. Icke claimed the wavelengths of light that scatter and refracts off a pearl create a soft white, pearly sheen, not sharp, bright reflections. Nor was it likely Vermeer would hang a pearl of that size on the ear of a serving girl, even for a painting. Icke believed the earring was most likely made of polished tin.

I believe in science. I also believe in art. There are situations in which I’ll freely abandon science if it disagrees with art. This is one of those situations. That’s a pearl.

In fact, it’s better than a pearl. If you look closely at the original painting, it’s just two disconnected amorphous patches of white, lacking even a hook to attach it to the girl’s ear. It’s the idea of a pearl.

Ken understands this. Ken gives us the idea of a painting. It’s as charming as the illusion of a pearl.

Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, greg fallis and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work