Cornelius is a math teacher at a boys' school who lives a quiet, highly controlled life. He keeps a painting of a girl in a blue dress locked away in his study, protecting it from public view. He struggles constantly with the knowledge that his father obtained the artwork while serving as a Nazi soldier during World War II.

Hannah is a young Jewish girl coming of age in the Netherlands during the early days of the German Occupation. She is observant and introspective, feeling a deep kinship with the quiet, thoughtful girl in the painting her father purchased. She faces the terrifying reality of her changing world while preparing for the Passover holiday.

Laurens is an older Dutch man who views his daughter's recent betrothal with skepticism, finding the young couple too conspicuously happy. He owns the painting of the girl in blue, which he originally bought because it reminded him of his intense, euphoric first romance, a fact he clumsily reveals to his current wife.

Claudine is a wealthy Frenchwoman living in The Hague. She detests the local Dutch customs and feels stifled by her arranged marriage to Gerard. Seeking passion and diversion to escape her dreary existence, she focuses on her physical appearance and looks for romantic entanglements.

Saskia is a hardworking farmer's wife enduring a severe flood that threatens her family's survival. When a boat washes up bearing an abandoned baby and a painting, she becomes enchanted by the vibrant blue colors in the artwork. She views the painting as a divine gift to brighten her harsh life.

Adriaan is a university student who abandons his philosophical studies to focus on practical windmill design in his aunt's village. Rational and highly educated, his logical worldview is challenged when he meets Aletta, an outcast wash girl who believes in curses and superstitions. He finds himself unexpectedly enchanted by her.

Johannes is a talented 17th-century Dutch painter living in a loud, crowded household with his large family. Constantly dodging creditors and asking relatives for loans, he wishes for silence and space to work. He finds peace only when staging and painting ordinary objects and domestic moments.

Magdalena is the highly energetic daughter of Johannes Vermeer. She loves the open air and hates being confined by endless domestic chores. Possessing her father's eye for color, landscape, and light, she secretly wishes she could learn to paint rather than mend clothes.

Richard is an art teacher at the same boys' school where Cornelius works. With a background in fine arts, he serves as an expert eye when Cornelius shows him the mysterious painting. He asks direct questions about authentication and provenance.

Otto is Cornelius's late father. He served as a lieutenant in the German army during World War II and participated in the deportation of Jewish citizens in the Netherlands. He brought the disputed painting home from the war, passing his guilt and secrets down to his son.

She was married to Cornelius briefly. When she questioned the authenticity and origins of his locked-away painting, his refusal to answer created an unbridgeable distance between them.

Sol is Hannah's father, a Jewish man involved in the diamond trade. As the German Occupation tightens its grip on the Netherlands, he struggles to protect his family and maintain his business. He previously purchased the painting at an auction to benefit refugees.

She is a pragmatic woman trying to maintain normalcy and religious traditions for her family during a time of immense fear. She manages the household chores for the holidays and acts as a buffer between her critical mother-in-law and her daughter.

Tobias is Hannah's younger brother. Innocent and largely oblivious to the full extent of the danger surrounding their Jewish family, he remains focused on caring for the household pigeons and preparing for the holiday dinner.

Hilde is Hannah's strict grandmother who lives with the family. She holds demanding expectations for Hannah's behavior and maturity, frequently criticizing the young girl and adding domestic tension to an already anxious household.

Digna is Laurens's dignified and artistic wife. She creates intricate embroidery featuring Latin adages and maintains a quiet, observant presence in her marriage. She is deeply affected when she realizes her husband bought their painting because it reminded him of another woman.

Johanna is the daughter of Laurens and Digna. Recently betrothed to Fritz, she is swept up in the euphoric happiness of new love, presenting a sharp contrast to her parents' settled and currently strained relationship.

Fritz is Johanna's fiancé. He is visibly joyful about their upcoming union, a state of bliss that annoys his future father-in-law.

Tanneke is a woman from Laurens's past. Though she does not appear directly in the present narrative, Laurens's lingering memories of their intense, lustful connection deeply influence his relationship with the painting.

Gerard is Claudine's husband. Unlike his wife, he has embraced the Dutch culture since their move from Paris. He gave Claudine the painting of the girl in the blue dress, though their marriage remains strained by their lack of children and emotional distance.

The Countess is a wealthy woman in charge of musical entertainment for the rich in The Hague. She provides Claudine with information about local musicians, while privately carrying on a relationship with Claudine's husband.

Stijn is Saskia's hardworking and highly practical husband. Focused entirely on the survival of his farm and family during the catastrophic flood, he works relentlessly to repair the sea dikes. He views the mysterious painting purely as an asset to be sold for food.

Piet is Saskia and Stijn's son. He endures the chaotic conditions of the flood alongside his mother and sister, accompanying Saskia on her boat trips to town.

Marta is Saskia and Stijn's daughter. She survives the flood under her mother's care, adapting to the strange circumstances of living with farm animals in the upstairs bedrooms.

Janjte is an infant found abandoned in a skiff along with the painting. Wrapped in a shawl, he is taken in by Saskia, who gives him his name and treats him as a divine blessing amidst the disaster.

Aletta is an outcast wash girl working at Aunt Rika's house. Superstitious and highly practical in her own way, she believes her family is cursed because her father was lost at sea on a slave ship. She carries lucky charms and refuses to believe Adriaan's rational explanations of the world.

Rika is Adriaan's aunt, a wealthy woman married to a slaver. She is deeply concerned with maintaining a veneer of Christian respectability and social status, hiding her complicity in the slave trade behind superficial charity and expensive furniture.

Hubert is Adriaan's uncle. He generates the family's immense wealth by investing in ships that sail the middle passage with slaves. He is easily terrified by Aletta's pranks, resulting in a severe injury.

Catharina is Johannes Vermeer's beleaguered wife and Magdalena's mother. Stressed by the extreme demands of raising a large family and managing their mounting debts, she faces significant physical and emotional hardship within her household.

Maria is Vermeer's wealthy mother-in-law. She frequently holds financial leverage over the Vermeer household, viewing her son-in-law's artistic pursuits with pragmatic skepticism while managing the fallout of her own son's instability.

Willem is Maria Thins's son and Catharina's brother. Described as witless and dangerous, he causes significant chaos for his family, leading to physical violence that requires outside intervention.

Pieter is Johannes Vermeer's wealthy benefactor. He discusses the obligations of artistic talent with Vermeer but passes over the opportunity to buy the painting of Magdalena.

Nicolaes is a hardworking saddlemaker who marries Magdalena. He is described as a man utterly without imagination, representing the mundane and practical life Magdalena settles into.