Girl with a Pearl Earring (novel) anticipating that the match will be to their benefit. Apart from "Girl with a Pearl Earring" itself, in which Griet is the sitter, several more of Vermeer’s paintings feature in Chevalier’s novel. At the very start, "View of Delft" is recalled by Griet’s father. When Griet enters the household, Vermeer is working on "Woman with a Pearl Necklace" and Tanneke mentions soon after that she had been Vermeer’s model for "The Milkmaid". His next subject is "Woman with a Water Jug", for which the baker’s daughter models. Griet describes the painting to her father and also witnesses its creation in
Johannes Vermeer in close connection with pioneer lens maker Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and Leeuwenhoek was his executor after death. Vermeer produced a total of fewer than 50 paintings, of which 34 have survived. Only three Vermeer paintings are dated: "The Procuress" (1656; Gemäldegalerie, Dresden); "The Astronomer" (1668; Musée du Louvre, Paris); and "The Geographer" (1669; Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt). Vermeer's mother-in-law Maria Thins owned Dirck van Baburen's 1622 oil-on-canvas "The Procuress" (or a copy of it), which appears in the background of two of Vermeer's paintings. The same subject was also painted by Vermeer. Almost all of Vermeer's paintings are of contemporary subjects