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
Writing to Vermeer whom writes six letters to Vermeer in his absence. Several of Vermeer's paintings portray women writing or reading letters, including "Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid", "The Love Letter", and "A Lady Writing a Letter". Andriessen said of his decision to accept Greenaway's proposal for the libretto: "I feel very close to the attitude of the painter [Vermeer] who fixes on his canvas brief 'stolen' moments that are eternally beautiful." Although the story is imaginary, two of the characters, Vermeer's wife Catherine Bolnes and her mother Maria Thins, are real historical figures. The third, his model Saskia, is fictional.