Is Girl with a Pearl Earring a portrait of a specific person?

Girl with a Pearl Earring is not a portrait of a specific person. While a model may have sat for Johannes Vermeer, the painting is classified as a tronie—a Dutch term for a work depicting a character, an exotic type, or an expression rather than a particular individual.12

Unlike a traditional portrait, which aims to capture the likeness of a specific person, this work serves as a study of facial expression, light, and costume. The subject is an imaginary young woman wearing a turban and an oversized pearl earring, intended to showcase the artist's technical expertise and his mastery of light effects. The common association of the painting with a specific identity, such as the fictional housemaid Griet from the novel and film of the same name, is a modern invention rather than a historical fact.21