Picture this: you find a single LEGO multifaceted hemisphere piece (also known as an insect eye) lying around in your collection. What can you build from there? Some might opt for a giant fly or a spaceship. But if you’re alanboar, the answer is Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. The insect eye forms the titular earring, which draws the eye to the center of the painting, but the rest of Vermeer’s masterpiece has also been faithfully recreated here—including the expressive eyes, the shadow on the face and clothing, the texture under the head-wrap, and the gradient on the hair. Also noteworthy is the choice of the ornate railing piece to create the scrollwork in the frame. I like to think Vermeer himself would be proud.
