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How did Vermeer create the light effect in his paintings?

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How did Vermeer create the light effect in his paintings?

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Vermeer's Masterpiece The Milkmaid: Discreet Object of Desire

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GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING BY JOHANNES VERMEER

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GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING BY JOHANNES VERMEER

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Johannes Vermeer's The Girl with The Pearl Earring, otherwise known as The "Mona Lisa of the North" - one of the most famous and mysterious marvels of the art world - is back in the US for the first time since 1995, when it caused a sensation in Washington DC.

Gallery owners say they're expecting a stampede of visitors, when the painting begins its US tour tomorrow, Saturday, at the de Young/Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Exactly why the painting is the source of such fascination is difficult to explain, since very little is known about the painter and even less about his subject. Experts say the mystery is part of its allure. "Sometimes the questions are more intriguing because they can't be answered," Melissa Buron, assistant curator of the exhibition at the de Young museum told The Wall Street Journal. "Who was she? What was she thinking? What was her relationship with Vermeer? The mystery is part of its popularity."

Imagining the story behind the "The Girl" with her dangling earring and blue headscarf, is what led Tracy Chevalier to write the novel, Girl With a Pearl Earring, which subsequently became a Hollywood film starring Colin Firth and Scarlett Johanson. In Chevalier's version of the story behind the painting, the girl is a servant named Griet who has an aesthetic meeting of the minds with her master and sits for the painting wearing his wealthy wife's jewels in her ear.

As The Girl frenzy begins again in the US, we're inviting Guardian readers to re-invent the story behind the painting.

Tap into your inner novelist or screenplay writer and in 200 words or less, give us your best, most creative plot line. Who is the girl? What was her relationship to the painter? What would the story be if it was set in 2013? We'll publish the best responses on The Guardian.

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Girl With The Pearl Earring: what's the story behind the famous painting?

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Johannes Vermeer's The Girl with The Pearl Earring, otherwise known as The "Mona Lisa of the North" - one of the most famous and mysterious marvels of the art world - is back in the US for the first time since 1995, when it caused a sensation in Washington DC.

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WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BANKSY'S GIRL WITH A PIERCED EARDRUM ...

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WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BANKSY'S GIRL WITH A PIERCED EARDRUM ...

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Banksy’s Girl with a Pierced Eardrum is given a Covid-19 face mask

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The Bristol artwork, which appeared overnight in October 2014 was fitted with a surgical style face mask during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown. The mural is based on the Vermeer painting.

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FROM BANKSY TO THE NHS (UK HEALTH SERVICE)

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FROM BANKSY TO THE NHS (UK HEALTH SERVICE)

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Rather than an act of vandalism, many see graffiti art as a form of visual poetry engaging with the people of the city. This is your guide to exploring the open-air galleries of the Mother City in South Africa.

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Soweto Street Art Carries On Mandela's Legacy

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Soweto Street Art Carries On Mandela's Legacy

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Now to South Africa where a young graffiti artist is using his skills to capture the image of former President and anti-apartheid hero, Nelson Mandela. He believes it will help spread the iconic leader's message of peace, love and forgiveness. Clementine Logan has more...

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Soweto Street Art Carries On Mandela's Legacy

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S. Africa artists paint township murals to raise awareness of HIV

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S. Africa artists paint township murals to raise awareness of HIV

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A group of artists are painting two giant murals depicting local HIV sufferers onto a well-known building in Khayelitsha, South Africa’s largest township in Cape Town.

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S. Africa artists paint township murals to raise awareness of HIV

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CONTEMPLATE: ART IN CAPE TOWN | Wayfarers