Comments by "Lynott Parris" (@DenUitvreter) on "TED-Ed" channel.

  1. Isn't there any American on the internet who can get his facts straight? - The Dutch didn't came to favour the idea of self rule and a political republic after the 80-year war. It was the Dutch Republic that fought 80 years for the self rule it established in 1581 with it's declaration of independence, which is remarkably simular to the American DOI from 2 centuries later. So when Verrmeer painted this girl, around 1665, the republican idea of painting common people was already very well established. - The VOC, or Dutch East-India company, didn't spearhead business innovation. It was the product of business innovation of an already very succesful merchant class that saturated the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Mediterranean See with Dutch ships and moved East themselves because Portugal where the got the Asian spices from had become united with enemy Spain. Even merchant's maids were buying shares when the VOC was established and wouldn't return any profits for many years to come. - Given the fact that even the enormous VOC only made a tiny contribution to the economy of the Dutch Republic, why wouldn't Vermeer be able to get hold of a big pearl earring? The biggest pearls were most likely to be found in the richest country, which was the Dutch Republic by a mile, especially around 1665 when it's wealth had already peaked. Maybe he owned it, maybe he borrowed it for the painting from one of his many rich customers, maybe he painted it out of imagination, maybe it was never a pearl.
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