"Girl with a Pearl Earring" (Dutch: Meisje met de parel) is an oil painting by Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer. It is a tronie of a girl wearing a headscarf and a pearl earring. The painting has been in the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague since 1902. In 2006, the Dutch public selected it as the most beautiful painting in the Netherlands.

Unfortunately, almost nothing is known about the young lady who used to model the picture.
Some historians believe that the depicted girl is Vermeer's eldest daughter, while others think that this is his mistress. Other researchers say that the girl was just a model. Johannes Vermeer works on the painting during the Dutch Golden Age when the Dutch Republic is the center of art all over Europe. Historians believe that the pearl that the pattern carries in the painting is also included in another great artist's work - "Lady writes a letter in the presence of her maidservant," since firstly the similarity of the two jewels is obvious and secondly there is evidence that the artist is often reused some of his "requisites," as well as models in his other projects.