End of Griet's Journey

I have finished reading Chevalier's "Girl With A Pearl Earring."  I was astonished, honestly, at the knowledge Griet's character gained throughout her time working as Vermeer's maid.  By the end of the novel, though she was not a painter, she could look at the painting of her and know exactly what it was that needed added or changed in order to make the painting complete.  She paid so close attention to details in his paintings that she knew exactly how to describe them to her father throughout the book before his death.  Griet was able to understand Vermeer better than he seemed to understand himself.  Several times she would look at a painting in his studio and see something she thought should be changed, and she would just change it.  Regardless of what Vermeer himself may have thought, she knew by that time that it was going to make his painting better.  One time it was changing the tablecloth.  Another it was eliminating a large crowd.  And of course, there was the earring, though Griet waited for Vermeer to discover this one for himself.  When the maid first began her work in the studio, she was skeptical and hesitant about what to do and when.  Then she slowly began to immerse herself in Vermeer's work, and by the end of just couple of years she knew the techniques and way of going about a large painting just as well if not better than the painter himself.  Honestly, i found that quite shocking.  I myself have trouble looking at a painting and noticing all of the detail.  I actually tried it when I looked up a few of his other paintings, and I could not quite remember everything.  Griet's character was a very complex one in just about every way.