Greetings, Peter,
That blue line was inspired by Steven Sweeney rather than by Vermeer. It's hard to see in the scans, but there is actually a little rainbow there. There are, green, yellow and red lines to the right of the blue line. In the middle of the "It's Better Than You Think" thread there is a post where Steven talks about halation and other painterly tricks to represent the effects of intense light. I haven't yet gotten the books he recommended, but his comments got me thinking about reflections and refractions of intense light.
I found that, under the right circumstances like the backlighting in this painting, I would see this kind of prismatic rainbow effect at the edge of the glass. So, I decided to incorporate the effect into the painting. From about a 2 m. viewing distance it looks like a "rainbow fog" to the left of the glass. I haven't gotten it to look exactly like the direct visual experience, but I'll play with it some more and try to post a scan that shows better what's really going on in that area.
I'm deeply appreciative that you like the painting. I'm beginning to like it better myself, although my feelings about it remain profoundly ambiguous. My wife likes it, which is a good sign. Of one thing, however, we can be absolutely certain: Our learned colleague, Dr. C. Tyler, would not be amused by it!
Cheers,
John
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