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NARRATOR: The Girl with the Red
Hat is a sensuous painting.
It is intimate and immediate.
She communicates directly
with us.
Vermeer's use of color
drives the emotional power
of this painting.
He sets the figure
against the muted tones
of a tapestry,
concentrating color on the flame
red of her hat
and the lushness
of her blue robe.
Vermeer established
an ochre base for the background
of painting.
The soft tones of the tapestry
elegantly emerge
from that color.
The lion-head finials define
the foreground
and place the figure in space.
Quick, strong strokes suggest
the basic contours and structure
of the heads.
Using reddish-brown color
for the base of the robe,
Vermeer covered it
with deep blue
to establish its form.
The brown bleeds through,
and the combination of colors
creates an extraordinary sense
of warmth.
He applied a delicate blue glaze
to define the folds
of the fabric.
His use of thinly painted glazes
creates depth, and the addition
to ice-blue highlights
provides a shimmering quality.
The face is established first
in shadow.
Vermeer used
an opaque, deep red-orange paint
as the underground for the hat.
The red is an intensely
warm and active color.
It heightens the immediacy
of the girl's gaze.
A succession
of semi-transparent strokes
of light red and orange
creates the feathery appearance
of the hat.
Vermeer demonstrates
his sensitivity to the effects
of reflected light
by placing a dark purple hue
on the underside of the hat.
He subtly casts
an orange-red reflection
across the girl's face
to accentuate the effect the red
has on the viewer.
He then uses green,
the complementary color of red,
to create the shadows
on the face,
enhancing both colors.
Vermeer paints the cravat
in a brilliant white.
After laying the white down,
he scraped away some
of the paint
to create definition.
The white, in the center
of the composition,
cradles the face
and focuses attention
on her expression.
Vermeer draws upon the power
of light
to increase the intensity
of the color
and to animate the painting,
adding
soft and shimmering highlights
that crystallize the form
of the finials,
yellow highlights to enhance
the blue of the robe
and accentuate the quality
of its color, delicate strokes
finishing the texture
and lushness of her hat,
and highlights on the earring,
nose, and lips
to bring the face to life.
His crowning touches are
the placement of the pink
on her lips
and the turquoise in her eye.
Vermeer's extraordinary use
of color encourages a dialogue
between the viewer and the girl
and enhances the sense of poetry
that flows
throughout his paintings.
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