Artistic Easter Eggs: Degas and Vermeer

In last week's post, I discussed the Easter eggs we've hidden for Raphael and Matisse, but the references to the French Impressionist Edgar Degas and the Dutch master Johannes Vermeer are just as numerous.

Warning for minor spoilers to Harlequin's Shadow and canon episodes.

In canon, Degas is tightly linked to the U-boat treasure. There are several Degas among the plundered art. In various screenshots, one of his ballerina paintings is prominently displayed outside its crate. Later Kramer works with Peter to try to trap Neal with a Degas. Neal was able to outsmart them by replacing the original with a forgery he'd painted. In our series, Penna was the first one to reference Degas. In By the Book, Neal tells Peter and El that when he was in high school, his art teacher sold a copy Neal had made of a Degas painting. Neal hadn't intended it to be a forgery, but the teacher subsequently sold it as an original.

In the U-boat con, I planted Easter eggs for the canon references but added a romantic twist. The Degas I chose features Harlequin and Columbine, two characters from the Commedia dell'arte. Neal identifies with Harlequin, the mischievous trickster. As for Columbine, his fellow con artist and love interest, that could only be Sara. The painting has an additional secret significance for Neal and Sara. The masked characters remind him of their avatars in the Clueless con, Matthew and Alicia. In Harlequin's Shadow, Peter is working with Neal rather than Kramer. As in canon, Kramer confronts Neal with the painting, but this time he doesn't realize it's a forgery. Harlequin is feeling smug.

The only canon reference to Vermeer that I'm aware of is in the first episode of the fourth season. The walls of Neal's house on the island of Cape Verde are hung with forgeries he's made, including Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. In my first long story, I selected another Vermeer painting, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, for Neal to forge. The enigmatic nature of the painting works well for the cons Klaus and Neal run on each other. Initially I didn't plan to include any other Vermeers, but once I studied Vermeer's painting of The Astronomer, I knew it was the ideal work to capture the chess game going on between Peter and Rolf. The painting has now become a central element in their duel, spanning both Caffrey Conversation and Arkham Files. For specifics on how it's being used, see Messages to Azathoth: An Unreliable Trigger.

Harlequin's Shadow on Archive of Our Own
Harlequin's Shadow on FanFiction