Video from TED-ed
Why is Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring" considered a masterpiece?
"Is she turning towards you or away from you? No one can agree. She’s the subject of Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer’s "Girl with the Pearl Earring," a painting often referred to as the ‘Mona Lisa of the North.’ But what makes this painting so captivating? James Earle explains how this work represents the birth of a modern perspective on economics, politics, and love." Lesson by James Earle, animation by Tess Martin. from TED-ed
Johannes Vermeer's talent was quiet and introspective as was he as an artist. It took hundreds of years for anyone to notice he was a genius. He was not famous in his lifetime but today is a very revered artist.
Vermeer was able to capture the beauty in the ordinary experiences of life, in snapshots of people doing life with no pretense. Vermeer was ultimately admired due to the efforts of the radical critic Thoré-Bürger, a veteran of the 1848 revolution who championed Vermeer as well as contemporaries like Delacroix and Ingres. Vermeer is not only a great artist, he is a great modern artist.
God also sees the beauty in our mundane and everyday lives, as he is always with us.