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When a 16-year-old from a poor family is forced to be a servant in Vermeer’s household, her world is shattered. Stars Libby Mai.

When Griet, a 16-year-old from a poor family, is forced to become a servant in Vermeer’s household, her world is shattered.

She crosses Delft to the grand house where the artist is creating his 1660s masterpieces in his attic studio.

‘I gazed at him over my shoulder. My ear was burning, the weight of the pearl pulling at the lobe…’

Who is the young woman in Vermeer’s famous painting?

And why are her eyes brimming with tears?

Tracy Chevalier’s much-loved novel vividly imagines the story behind the gaze of the unknown model in Vermeer’s painting and what her relationship with the renowned artist might have been.

Dramatised in five parts by Ayeesha Menon.

Tanneke …... Laura Elphinstone
Griet …... Libby Mai
Franciscus …... Liam Howes
Agnes …... Flora Froment
Griet’s Mother .….. Jane Whittenshaw
Catharina …... Hattie Morahan
Vermeer …... Khalid Abdalla
Griet’s Father …... Rufus Wright
Cornelia …... Mia Wilks
Maria Thins …... Eleanor Bron
Pieter …... Tom Glenister

Directed and produced by Amber Barnfather

A Goldhawk Essential production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2020.

14 minutes

Last on

Tue 7 May 202403:45
BBC Radio 4 Extra

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Broadcasts

  • Mon 11 May 202010:45
    BBC Radio 4
  • Mon 11 May 202019:45
    BBC Radio 4
  • Mon 6 May 202408:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 6 May 202413:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 6 May 202419:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Tue 7 May 202403:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra