I just read “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and it was so engaging that all I want to read for the time being is the genre of historical fiction. Apparently Chevalier has written a couple other novels based on art pieces, but I’m not so inclined to read them yet….Lest I be disappointed. This work of Vermeer is one of the most iconoclastic of the time period and Dutch masters. It is a masterpiece instrumental in showing Vermeer’s ability to manipulate light, color and shadow in a luminous way which improved on others attempts before. All of this seems clear by just gazing upong the portrait, one of his best, but the author was clever enough to weave a whole personal story told from the girl/maid . And included actual historical facts. I loved it. The dvd is in the mail from netflix and I can’t wait. NNow I’m reading the autobiography by Francoise Gillet “Life with Picasso”