Press releases

New in-depth research into Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring starts with macro-XRF scan

26 Jan 2018

Meisje met de parel wordt onderzocht voor Girl in the spotlight

Head Researcher Abbie Vandivere and Annelies van Loon switch on the macro-X-ray fluorescence scanner. Vermeer’s painting Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665) will be scanned millimetre by millimetre during the next few days. This MA-XRF scan marks the beginning of The Girl in the Spotlight: a joint project within the framework of the Netherlands Institute for Conservation, Art and Science (NICAS).

From 26 February until 11 March 2018, an international team of researchers from partner institutions Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Delft University of Technology, the University of Antwerp and Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) will carefully examine the painting using state-of-the-art scientific techniques. The research will be conducted in the Golden Room of the Mauritshuis, so this is a unique opportunity for visitors to the museum to watch the work in progress live during the museum’s opening hours. Please visit our website for updates about this research project: www.mauritshuis.nl/girlwithablog

Girl in the spotlight
Photographer: Martijn Beekman / Mauritshuis