Girl with a Pearl Earring Trivia Quiz

Answer: a tile

Griet's father had been blinded in a kiln accident. He gave Griet a special tile to take along, because she had to take a job as a maid in order to help support the family. Griet's treasured tile was later broken by Cornelia, the Vermeer's conniving young daughter who didn't like Griet.

Answer: Catharina's mother

Catharina's domineering mother, Maria Thins, controlled the finances, as well as most everything else, in the Vermeer household.

Answer: The birth of a baby

Catharina had recently given birth to the sixth Vermeer child, Franciscus. The shrewd Maria Thins decided to combine the two celebrations in order to save money. The painting was of Van Ruijvan's wife, Emilie. It is Vermeer's painting known as "Woman with a Pearl Necklace".

Answer: washing windows

One of Griet's responsibilities in the Vermeer household was to clean Johannes' studio. She had some concern about whether washing the windows would change the light in the studio, thereby affecting Johannes' painting. Catharina, not understanding why Griet was concerned, told her to go ahead and wash them. Griet was standing by the table washing one of the windows when Johannes walked in the studio.

He told Griet to stand still with her hand on the window, but to drop her cloth. This was the inspiration for the painting which became "Young Woman with a Water Pitcher". Catharina became jealous of Griet because she realized that Griet had an understanding of how an artist sees things and creates paintings. Griet had something in common with Johannes, while Catharina did not.

Answer: a chair

After studying the painting, Griet moved the chair away from the setting. The next day when Griet went into the studio, Johannes had removed the chair from the painting. Later, while they were mixing paints together, Johannes asked Griet why she had moved the chair. She told him that the woman looked trapped.

Answer: mix his paints

Johannes realized that Griet had an eye for colors and lighting, and understood his paintings. Soon, Griet was responsible for purchasing the ingredients and mixing the paints.

Answer: Van Ruijvan wanted him to

The lecherous Van Ruijvan took a liking to Griet the first time he saw her. He took great delight in showing her a painting Johannes had made of Van Ruijvan with a maid. Griet later found out from Tanneke that the maid had become pregnant by Van Ruijvan and was disgraced. Van Ruijvan originally wanted to be painted with Griet, but Johannes later told Griet that Van Ruijvan would settle for a portrait of Griet alone.

Answer: The butcher's son

Griet first met Pieter when she was taken to the butcher's by Tanneke. Pieter showed up at Griet's church one day, where he met her parents. He later asked Griet to marry him, and also to leave the Vermeer house because he sensed the attraction between Griet and Johannes.

Answer: Catharina

Johannes was intrigued by the way the shadow and light created by the pearl earrings looked, after he asked Catharina to put them on. Maria Thins knew how important it was for Johannes to keep Van Ruijvan happy, since he was their primary patron. She let Griet know how crucial it was to the family's survival that they give Van Ruijvan what he wanted. Catharina was already jealous of Johannes' painting, and suspicious about his feelings towards Griet. No one wanted Catharina to know anything about the painting of Griet, so one day when Catharina was to be out all day, Maria gave Griet the pearl earrings. Johannes pierced Griet's ear, and then painted her wearing the earring.

Answer: She told Griet to leave

Cornelia saw Griet hand the pearl earrings back to Maria, and told her mother. A distraught Catharina burst into the studio demanding to see the painting of Griet. She couldn't believe that her husband had painted Griet wearing her pearls. When she finally saw the painting, she called it obscene, and tried to destroy it. Johannes prevented her from doing so, but she screamed at Griet to leave. Tanneke later delivered Griet a package, which turned out to be the pearl earrings.