No one can agree.

大家都各執一詞。

She's the mysterious subject of Dutch master Johannes Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring," a painting often referred to as the "Mona Lisa of the North."

她是荷蘭藝術大師維梅爾畫作《戴珍珠耳環的少女》中的神祕主角，也有「北方蒙娜麗莎」之稱。

Belonging to a Dutch style of idealized, sometimes overly expressive paintings known as "Tronies," the "Girl with the Pearl Earring" has the allure and subtlety characteristic of Vermeer's work.

《戴珍珠耳環的少女》隸屬荷蘭理想化、有時具過度表達力的 Tronies 風格，擁有維梅爾作品極具魅力且隱晦的特質。

But this painting stands apart from the quiet narrative scenes that we observe from afar in many of Vermeer's paintings.

但是這幅畫和維梅爾一貫讓欣賞者遠觀寧靜敘事場景的作品很不一樣。

"A Girl Reading a Letter"

《窗邊讀信的少女》

"A Piano Lesson"

《音樂課》、

"A Portrait Artist at Work"

《繪畫的藝術》

These paintings give us a sense of intimacy while retaining their distance.

這些畫作都是在給我們一種親近感的同時，保持一定的距離。

A drawn curtain often emphasizes the separation.

一片拉開的窗簾通常被用來強調距離感。

We can witness a milkmaid serenely pouring a bowl of milk, but that milk isn't for us.

我們可以看到擠奶女工平靜地倒著牛奶，但牛奶不是為給我們而倒。

We're only onlookers.

我們只是旁觀者。

The studied composition in Vermeer's paintings invokes a balanced harmony.

維梅爾畫作中的審慎構圖提供了飽富平衡感的和諧。

With the checkered floor in many of his works, Vermeer demonstrates his command of perspective and foreshortening.

透過許多畫作中的黑白方格地板，維梅爾展現了他在透視法與空間概念的天賦。

That's a technique that uses distortion to give the illusion of an object receding into the distance.

這個技巧透過失真手法，讓物體呈現逐漸遠離的樣貌。

Other elements, like sightlines, mirrors, and light sources describe the moment through space and position.

其他像視線、鏡子和光源等元素，則透過空間與方位描述當下的情境。

The woman reading a letter by an open window is precisely placed so the window can reflect her image back to the viewer.

在敞開窗邊讀信的女人，精確地被安排在觀看者得以看見她窗戶上倒影的位置。

Vermeer would even hide the leg of an easel for the sake of composition.

維梅爾甚至會為了構圖完整性而隱藏畫架的一支腳架。

The absence of these very elements brings the "Girl with the Pearl Earring" to life.

正因為欠缺了上述元素，使得《戴珍珠耳環的少女》更為逼真。

Vermeer's treatment of light and shadow, or chiaroscuro, uses a dark, flat background to further spotlight her three-dimensionality.

維梅爾針對光、影（明暗對照法）的處理，是利用深色、平坦的背景，突顯她立體性。

Instead of being like a set piece in a theatrical narrative scene, she becomes a psychological subject.

這讓畫中女子不只是戲劇敘事場景的佈景，而成為一個心理學上探討的主題。

Her eye contact and slightly parted lips, as if she is about to say something, draw us into her gaze.

她的眼神接觸及彷彿要說話而微啟的雙唇，把我們帶往她所凝視的方向。

Traditional subjects of portraiture were often nobility or religious figures.

傳統上，肖像繪圖的主角通常都是貴族或宗教人物。

So why was Vermeer painting an anonymous girl?

那麼維梅爾為什麼要畫一個沒沒無名的女孩？

In the 17th century, the city of Delft, like the Netherlands in general, had turned against ruling aristocracy and the Catholic church.

17 世紀時，代爾夫特市和荷蘭一樣，已經開始反抗具統治權的貴族和天主教會。

After 8 decades of rebellion against Spanish power, the Dutch came to favor the idea of self-rule and a political republic.

反抗西班牙政權 80 年後，荷蘭人成為了自治與政治共和觀念並存的群族。

Cities like Delft were unsupervised by kings or bishops, so many artists like Vermeer were left without traditional patrons.

像代爾夫特這類的城市，沒有國王或主教治理，所以許多像維梅爾這樣藝術家失去了往日的贊助家。

Fortunately, business innovation, spearheaded by the Dutch East India Company, transformed the economic landscape in the Netherlands.

幸運的是，荷蘭東印度公司領頭的業務創新改變了荷蘭的經濟格局。

It created a merchant class—a new type of patron.

它造就了商人階級，一種新型態的贊助家。

Wishing to be represented in the paintings they financed, these merchants preferred middle-class subjects depicted in spaces that looked like their own homes surrounded by familiar objects.

希望自己的影子出現在所資助畫作中的商人們，偏好讓畫作以中產階級為主題，並在類似自家、被熟悉物品環繞的環境中。

The maps that appear in Vermeer's paintings, for example, were considered fashionable and worldly by the merchant class of what is known as the Dutch Golden Age.

舉例來說，維梅爾畫作中出現的地圖，被所謂荷蘭黃金時期的商人階級認為既時尚又世故。

The oriental turban worn by the "Girl with the Pearl Earring" also emphasizes the worldliness of the merchant class, and the pearl itself, a symbol of wealth, is actually an exaggeration.

《戴珍珠耳環的少女》所戴的東方頭巾，強調了商人階級的世故性，而象徵財富的珍珠，在畫中則是誇張的表現。

Vermeer couldn't have afforded a real pearl of its size.

維梅爾不可能買得起那種大小的珍珠。

It was likely just a glass or tin drop varnished to look like a pearl.

它可能只是上了亮光漆的玻璃或錫滴，才會看起來像是一顆珍珠。

This mirage of wealth is mirrored in the painting itself.

這種對財富的幻象，也反映在畫作本身。

In greater context, the pearl appears round and heavy, but a detailed view shows that it's just a floating smudge of paint.

以整體觀看畫作，這顆珍珠顯得圓潤且沉重，但放大檢視細節，則會發現它只是個突出來的油漆汙點。

Upon close inspection, we are reminded of Vermeer's power as an illusion maker.

詳細檢視後，我們再度意識到維梅爾身為幻像製造者的力量。

While we may never know the real identity of the "Girl with the Pearl Earring," we can engage with her portrait in a way that is unforgettable.

也許我們永遠不會知道《戴珍珠耳環的少女》的真實身份，但是我們卻能與她的肖象有難以忘懷的接觸。

As she hangs in her permanent home in the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, her presence is simultaneously penetrating and subtle.

被安置在永居所--荷蘭海牙的莫瑞泰斯皇家美術館，她擁有著具穿透力又微妙的存在。

In her enigmatic way, she represents the birth of a modern perspective on economics, politics, and love.

她以神秘的方式，體現了經濟學、政治學與愛情的現代新視角。