The Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, which houses the 17th century masterpiece, commissioned neuroscientists to measure brain output when viewing the portrait and other well-known works.
They discovered that the viewer is held captive by a special neurological phenomenon they called "Sustained Attentional Loop", which they believe is unique to the "Girl With The Pearl Earring".
The viewer's eye is automatically drawn first to the girl's own eye, then down to her mouth, then across to the pearl, then back to the eye- and so it continues.
This story is from the October 03, 2024 edition of The Citizen.
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This story is from the October 03, 2024 edition of The Citizen.
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