As Griet poses for the renowned painter, Johannes Vermeer, she is speechless, yet overcome with agony in her pierced earlobes and in her heart. For her stunningly beautiful portrait, Johannes Vermeer asks Griet to put on two pearl earrings, those which a Dutch maid would never wear. Nevertheless, Griet experiences a sense of obligation to Vermeer's every command. Each night, Griet inflicts suffering upon herself when her "eyes streamed with tears when [she] drove the needle through" her earlobe. Maria Thins, the grandmother of the Vermeer household, acquires the pearl earrings from her daughter, Catharina, and secretly lends them to Griet. While Griet must keep her role as a model for Vermeer's painting a secret, so she must also keep her devoted relationship with Vermeer to herself.

Tracy Chevalier's historical fiction novel, Girl with the Pearl Earring, portrays the mind and soul of a sixteen-year-old Protestant girl, Griet...