Pieter van Ruijven had belonged to the Van Ruijvens, who had built up a large collection of paintings by Vermeer, three by Emanuel de Witte, four by Simon de Vlieger and one by Jan Porcellis. He is depicted as a predatory lecher in Tracy Chevalier's historical novel "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (1999), although there is absolutely no evidence of this. The 2003 film of the book also follows this characterization. Pieter van Ruijven Pieter Claesz. van Ruijven (Delft, 1624 – Delft, August 7, 1674) is best known as Johannes Vermeer's patron for the better part of the artist's career. Van Ruijven was
Chasing Vermeer him. This causes Petra, Calder, and the rest of Hyde Park to examine art more closely. Themes of art, chance, coincidence, deception, and problem-solving are apparent. The novel was written for Balliett classroom intended to deal with real-world issues. Balliett values children's ideas and wrote the book specifically to highlight that. "Chasing Vermeer" has won several awards, including the Edgar and the Agatha. In 2006, the sequel entitled "The Wright 3" was published, followed by "The Calder Game" in 2008. "Chasing Vermeer" is Blue Balliett's first published book. Its original purpose was a book to read to her class for