Vermeer’s masterpiece ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ has inspired everything from books and plays to a film starring Scarlett Johansson.
But while it is widely regarded as one of the most fascinating works of art ever made, it has taken scientists almost 400 years to figure out why.
Now, neuroscientists have revealed that the 17th-century oil painting uses a ‘unique’ psychological trick called a ‘sustained attentional loop’ which holds the viewer in place.
The researchers believe that this unique effect could even explain the appeal of great works of art like the Mona Lisa.
Martin de Munnic, co-founder of neuroscience firm Neurensics which led the study, says: ‘You have to pay attention whether you want to or not. You have to love her whether you want to or not.’
Scientists have revealed that Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ due to a psychological effect called a ‘sustained attentional loop’
Researchers fitted 20 participants with caps which recorded their brain activity and gaze to see how great works of art affect the mind
The mystery of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ has spawned adaptions ranging from books and plays to a film starring Scarlett Johansson (left) and Colin Firth (right)
Painted by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer in 1665, the ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ has long been admired as one of the greatest paintings of its period.
But to understand what makes this painting so compelling, the Mauritshuis Museum where the painting is housed invited neuroscientists to study how our brains react to art.
The researchers fitted 20 participants with special EEG headsets which recorded their brain activity while eye-trackers recorded where they were looking.
This revealed that ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ has a unique attention-grabbing effect.
Mr de Munnic says: ‘It was predictable that the Girl was special. But the “why” was also a surprise to us.
‘Normally when you look at a face you look at the eyes, at the mouth and then you are done, because then you have determined whether this person is “safe” or not. Not with the “Girl with a Pearl Earring”.
Vermeer is well known for leaving most of his paintings soft and blurry while a few details are made especially sharp to draw the viewer’s eye.
In ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ Vermeer uses three of these focus points: the mouth, the eyes, and the earring.
So, instead of sliding off the painting after a quick look, the viewer’s gaze is drawn in a triangle from the eyes to the mouth, to the earring, and back to the eyes.
The painting draws the viewer’s attention in a looping triangle from the eyes to the mouth, to the earring and back to the eyes. This diagram shows the areas of concentrated attention in dark red
Scientists say this effect could help explain why great paintings like the Mona Lisa are so captivating
While much of the painting is left vague and blurred, Vermeer includes extremely fine details in the areas meant to draw the eye. These microscope photos reveal how Vermeer even painted eyelashes which are only visible using X-ray imaging (right)
This looping effect means that viewers will look at the face in the painting for significantly longer than faces in other paintings.
The researchers believe this gaze-holding effect could explain why ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ and other great paintings like it are so compelling.
Mr de Munnic says: ‘The longer you look at somebody, the more beautiful or more attractive somebody becomes.
‘Why are you familiar with this painting and not with the other paintings? Because of this special thing she has.’
The neuroscientists behind the study, which they plan to publish as an academic paper, now say they would like to repeat the study with other paintings, including the Mona Lisa.
Referencing the joking rivalry between the two paintings, Mauritshuis Director Martine Gosselink told AFP: ‘People sometimes call “The Girl With a Pearl Earring” the Mona Lisa of the North, but I think times are changing, so maybe the Mona Lisa is the Girl of the South.’
In addition to uncovering the sustained attentional loop, the researchers found new details which could explain why we find art so moving.
Data gathered by the EEG caps found that participants looking at works of art experienced the most activation in a region of the brain called the precuneus.
A 3D digital microphotograph shows the pearl at 140x magnification (1.1 μm/pixel). This is one of three extremely sharp focal points which draw the viewer’s attention in a loop
The scientists found that people’s emotional responses were 10 times more powerful while looking at real art compared to looking at posters. Pictured: a study participant examines art in the Mauritshuis Museum where ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ is held
This area is particularly associated with consciousness, personal identity, and memory retrieval.
To investigate this connection further, the team of neuroscientists compared people’s brain activity while looking at posters of great art with their activity while looking at the real thing.
They found that participants’ emotional responses were 10 times stronger while looking at the original.
This means that seeing authentic art in a museum setting has a far bigger impact on our minds at the neurological level than seeing the same images elsewhere.
Or, as Ms Gosselink puts it, ‘The brain doesn’t lie.’
