Comments by Ana Pardo

The idea for this picture came to life when I saw the film “Girl with a Pearl Earring”. Leaving aside Vermeer’s real reason for painting this picture, the story brought to the screen has left us with something difficult to forget. The idea that the girl in the portrait represents in some way the canon of beauty of that time made me think about today’s canon. This concern led me to study the physiognomy of those features that women today would like to have. In this case, for those who, as in the book, try to put a name to the face, let me tell them in advance not to try since the portrait is completely fictitious, the girl is an idealized image.

The structure and hierarchy of the patterns which guide today’s woman can be seen in the level of detail and by their position in the picture. Reading from right to left, we first see the hat, completely flat, a decorative element present throughout the centuries, this appendage of the hair which we use to try to break the cubic structure of the head and at the same time enrich the curvilinear rhythms of face and shoulders. The lack of detail stops the spectator getting distracted and shows more accurately how important these rhythms are.

The dress, which is superficial, shows how female fashions have moved in a pragmatic direction and , just a footnote, how the sensuality of the figure is no longer concentrated exclusively in the bust. While it is true that her wardrobe takes up half the social activity of a young Western woman (I don’t want anyone to say I’m exaggerating), it is equally true that practical concerns dominate her choice of clothes, she can’t waste her day or get lost among lots of petticoats and corsets. Except in “high society” parties where she seeks mainly to show her status, today’s woman sets less store by pompous, cardboard-like clothes, preferring instead to highlight those qualities which depict the female character more seductively: where in past times tight bodices gave way to forceful cleavages, today a woman demonstrates her self-confidence with bare legs and arms producing, if possible, even higher levels of sensuality.

The hair, rather untidy but ensuring the grace of the lengthened wave, shows how today’s woman does not accept her own hairdo. So true is this that I know no woman, myself included, who is fully satisfied with her hair. This non-acceptance sets us off on a crusade to disguise it, as if by showing it naturally we might reveal to the world the true essence of the “I” we most hate. In “Girl with a Piercing” we can see, through the collagen of tinted colour, the weakness that hides an unknown strength, thinking that her personality is reflected in little pigtails, trying to divert the attention of her coquetry towards funny plaits.

The eyes, cold in colour, keep a firm, distant gaze, in the shade, never losing that hint of delicacy. Their slight half-light tries to express her cautious attitude to events, distant yet precise.

The nose is straight; any shape which does not conform to this rigidity seems to us to indicate some type of defect: we associate an aquiline nose with greed, a flat nose with stupidity, etc.. “Piercing”, at the same time as it is an allegory of Vermeer’s “Pearl Earring”, is also a reality in the present, when young girls try to build a high barrier between generations.

Lastly the lips, which more than the bust are becoming the centre of interest; flesh and volume are exponents which mark current preferences.

Finally, “Girl with a Piercing” does not aim to portray accurately 21st Century woman but rather to show her deepest desires, since as Schopenhauer wrote:

“Beauty is a letter of reference which wins us hearts in advance.”