PAINTING – You have seen her in the cinema played by Scarlett Johansson and she inspires artists, writers and advertisers alike. All that was missing was for scientists to look into it. With a discovery as intriguing as his gaze. A team of neuroscientists believe they have unlocked the secret behind the fame of The Girl with the Pearl Earring by the painter Johannes Vermeer.
The paintings of 3-year-old Laurent Schwarz sell for high prices and he even had his own opening
The Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, which houses the world-famous work, asked them to measure the brain activity of spectators observing the portrait as well as other works on display in the establishment.
They concluded that the viewer finds himself caught in what they call a “sustained attention loop” (Sustained Attentional Loop), a neurological phenomenon which according to scientists is specific to “The Girl with the Pearl Earring”.
A clear path for the eye
The viewer’s gaze is initially drawn to the young girl’s eye. It then moves towards its mouth, slides towards the pearl, and back up towards the eye – and so on.
This attention loop is why we linger on this painting longer than the others, explains Martin De Munnik, of the research company Neurensics which conducted the study. “You are obligated to pay attention, whether you like it or not”he added.
By measuring participants’ brain activity, scientists also discovered strong stimulation of the precuneus, the part of the brain that governs consciousness and personal identity. “We expected the girl to be special. But the ‘why’ also surprised us.”said Martin De Munnik. “Why do you know this painting and not the others? Thanks to this I don’t know what”.
According to him, this is the first study of its type to use electroencephalogram (EEG) and MRI technologies to measure a neurological reaction to a work of art.
The brain does not lie in the face of Vermeer
The scientists also compared the brain’s reaction when the viewer looks at the original painting in the museum and when looking at a reproduction. They also found that the emotion felt by the viewer was ten times stronger than for a poster.
To carry out their study, the scientists attached an eye sensor and electrodes around the heads of each of the 10 participants in order to monitor their brain activity when faced with original paintings and reproductions.
Martine Gosselink, director of the Mauritshuis, believes that these discoveries underline the importance of going to the museum to see original works. “The brain does not lie”she added.
In his works, Vermeer often draws attention to a specific point, painting the surrounding details in a blurred manner, says Ms. Gosselink. However, “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” has three points of focus: the eye, the mouth and the pearl. According to the museum director, this sets it apart from other Vermeer paintings.
« Here we see someone actually looking at you, whereas in all of Vermeer’s other paintings we see someone writing or doing needlework.she explained.
Neuroscientists believe that it would now be interesting to carry out similar studies for other famous paintings, such as Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
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