Today we are mixing:
- The Painting: “Girl with a pearl earring” by Johannes Vermeer
- The Soundtrack: “Griet’s Theme” by Alexandre Desplat (“Girl with a pearl earring” Soundtrack)
About the Painting
Girl with a Pearl Earring (Dutch: Meisje met de parel) is an oil painting by Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer, dated c. 1665. Going by various names over the centuries, it became known by its present title towards the end of the 20th century after the large pearl earring worn by the girl portrayed there. The work has been in the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague since 1902 and has been the subject of various literary treatments. In 2006, the Dutch public selected it as the most beautiful painting in the Netherlands.
About the Soundtrack
Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 2003 drama film directed by Peter Webber. The screenplay was adapted by screenwriter Olivia Hetreed, based on the 1999 novel of the same name by Tracy Chevalier. Scarlett Johansson stars as Griet, a young 17th-century servant in the household of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (played by Colin Firth) at the time he painted Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665) in the city of Delft in Holland. Other cast members include Tom Wilkinson, Cillian Murphy, and Judy Parfitt. Hetreed read the novel before its publication, and her husband’s production company convinced Chevalier to sell the film rights. Initially, the production was to feature Kate Hudson as Griet with Mike Newell directing. Hudson withdrew shortly before filming began, however, and the film was placed in hiatus until the hire of Webber, who re-initiated the casting process.
Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (French: [alɛksɑ̃dʁ dɛspla]; born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer. He has won two Academy Awards, for his musical scores to the films The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shape of Water, and received nine additional Academy Award nominations, ten César nominations (winning three), ten BAFTA nominations (winning three), eleven Golden Globe Award nominations (winning two), and ten Grammy nominations (winning two).