\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 The artist was one of the greatest portraitists of the upper middle class in Amsterdam around the middle of the seventeenth
century. The girl is shown in a traditional pose, turned from profile all the way through three-quarters to front in a way that makes it possible to see the whole of her physiognomy. The light, coming from a single source on the left, bathes the entire
figure, giving it a disquieting appearance. The light picks out the fabric of her clothing, from the blue brocade to the white silk, lends substance to the refined strings of pearls around her wrist and neck and glints on the blond hair, as well as lin
gering on the feather she is holding. The principal subject of VerspronckÆs analysis is the childish face of this little girl dressed as a woman. Her high forehead, her fleshy nose and above all her large dark eyes are presented to the observer. The g
irl also smiles sweetly, hinting at her childish dreams, to which the feather in her hands also appears to be an allusion. Rather than the girl herself, it is the light that is the force of the painting, progressively revealing the intimate nature of th
