Girl with a Pearl Earring Quotes

A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works.

[after bringing meat for the birth feast]
Pieter: Not even a smile for my pains?
Griet: Not today.
Pieter: Come on.
[she refuses]
Pieter: I shall put it in the book, then: "Owed by Griet: one smile."
[Griet gives in and smiles]

Van Ruijven: How hard is it to paint a pretty girl?

Maria Thins: [referring to Van Ruijven while speaking to Griet] You're a fly in his web... we all are.

Catharina: [in tears] Why don't you paint me?
Vermeer: Because you don't understand.
Catharina: [gesturing toward Griet indignantly] And *she* does?

Griet: [enters the room, where Maria Thins and Catharina sit quietly by the fireplace, and curtsies]
Catharina: Yes?
Griet: Madam, shall I wash the windows?
Catharina: [Scoffs] You don't need to ask me about such matters.
Griet: It's just...it may change the light.
[both Catharina and Maria Thins stare at Griet questioningly]

[to Vermeer, after seeing her own portrait for the first time]
Griet: You looked inside me...

Pieter: Don't get caught up in his world.
Griet: I may only be a maid, but I would NEVER give in to Master Van Ruijven!
Pieter: I wasn't talking about Van Ruijven...

Griet: Good morning, madam.
[curtsies]
Catharina: Don't speak until you are spoken to.

[after cornering Griet]
Van Ruijven: [maliciously] Ripe as a plum, still unplucked.

[last lines]
Tanneke: Well, I've come to the right place, then. This is for you.

[referring to a yellow paint which comes from cow's urine, used in Vermeer's portrait of Mistress van Ruijven]
Van Ruijven: You've glazed my wife in dried piss.

Griet's Mother: Stay clear of their Catholic prayers. Or if you must be with them when they pray, stop your ears.

Tanneke: His by-blow was dry before the paint was!

Catharina: She's dishonest, always sneaking around, shirking her work!