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Scientists unlock secret of 'Girl With Pearl Earring'

Johannes Vermeer's "Girl With The Pearl Earring" is one of the world's most popular paintings—and now scientists believe they know why, by measuring how the brain reacts when the work is viewed.

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 makes you look at the painting longer than others, explained Martin de Munnik, from research company Neurensics that carried out the study.