On Monday 26 February 2018, the Mauritshuis launches The Girl in the Spotlight: an in-depth scientific examination of the Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665) by Johannes Vermeer. The museum’s most famous painting was last examined in 1994, during a conservation treatment.

The research project The Girl in the Spotlight is a Mauritshuis initiative, led by paintings conservator Abbie Vandivere, with a team of internationally recognised specialists working within the collaborative framework of the Netherlands Institute for Conservation+Art+Science+ (NICAS). More information can be found on the project page.

The following NICAS partners are actively involved in the research: Rijksmuseum, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), and the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE). Cooperating in this project are: Shell Technology Centre Amsterdam (STCA), Maastricht University, University of Antwerp, National Gallery of Art Washington and Hirox Europe. These institutions have made their equipment, expertise and research time available for the benefit of this project.

Different analytical techniques used on ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’. Curtain viewer created by Rob Erdmann.

NICAS is an interdisciplinary research centre initiated by the division for Physical Sciences of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO-CEW), within which art history, conservation and restoration, and sciences are united.

The project is made possible with support from the Johan Maurits Compagnie Foundation.

The full press release can be read here.