AMSTERDAM, Jan 2 — Girl with a Pearl Earring has been part of the collection of the Mauritshuis in the city of The Hague, Netherlands for over a century.

This masterpiece by Johannes Vermeer will temporarily leave the Mauritshuis in February for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

To make up for its absence, the Mauritshuis is inviting its visitors to create their own version of the work, which has been nicknamed "the Mona Lisa of the North.”

Art lovers can recreate Girl with a Pearl Earring in a variety of media. Photography, sketches, oil on canvas, embroidery... All kinds of reinterpretations are permitted as long as a digital copy of the work can be sent to the Mauritshuis curators.

They will select several of them to be exhibited, starting on February 6, in the gallery of the museum dedicated to the works of Johannes Vermeer, via a multimedia screen.

Other works inspired by Girl with a Pearl Earring will also be on display in the room to show just how much influence the portrait, painted around 1665 by the Dutch artist, has had. "So many people are inspired by this world-famous painting,” Paul Schuiling, cultural partnerships advisor for Nationale-Nederlanden, said in a statement.

"That is why the Mauritshuis and the Nationale-Nederlanden are calling on creative talent to send in their beautiful variations. That way, we give that talent a stage in this special place.”

To showcase visitors’ creations inspired by Girl with a Pearl Earring, the Mauritshuis has created the Instagram account @mygirlwithapearl. This initiative aims to fill the gap that Johannes Vermeer’s painting will leave when it is exhibited at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, as part of the "Vermeer” exhibition.

This major retrospective, which will run from February 10 to June 4, 2023, will bring together some 30 paintings by the Dutch master, including Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, Girl Reading a Letter at the Open Window and The Milkmaid.

A quantity that has never been brought into one space before this exhibit. For instance, Paris’s Louvre managed to bring together just 12 Vermeer paintings out of the 35 or 37 he is said to have painted during his lifetime (the exact figure is still debated) in its blockbuster exhibition in 2017.

Taco Dibbits, director of the Rijksmuseum, said in a statement that the retrospective offers "an unprecedented opportunity” to delve into the work of the master of the golden age of Dutch painting.

"It is an exciting prospect for the public and all Vermeer lovers, as well as scientists, conservators and art historians. We are extremely grateful to the partnering museums and organisations who have made this exhibition possible with very exceptional and generous loans,” he added. — ETX Studio