Page:Cyclopedia of painters and paintings (IA cyclopediaofpain03cham).pdf/287

 (Crowe), ii. 256; Kramm, iv. 1123; Havard, A. & A. holl., i. 34; Riegel, Beiträge, i. 146; ii. 215; Zeitschr. f. b. K., viii. 16.

MIERIS, FRANS VAN, the elder, born in Leyden, April 16, 1635, died there, March 12, 1681. Dutch school; genre painter, son of Jan van Mieris, goldsmith; pupil of Abraham Torenvliet, then of Gerard Dou, who called him the prince of his scholars, and of Adriaen van den Tempel. His preference for subjects from the life of the upper classes shows the influence of Metsu; and a certain humour in some of his works, that of his friend Jan Steen. Minuteness of execution is carried to the highest point in his pictures, his colouring is as clear and delicate as it is deep and rich, and in the art of painting velvet, satin, and other rich stuffs he is unsurpassed. Works: Lady in Crimson Jacket, National Gallery, London; Portrait of himself, Bridgewater Gallery, ib.; Making out the Reckoning, Mr. Hope, ib.; Woman reading Music, Mr. Baring, ib.; Pedestrian with a Flask, Mr. Holford, ib.; Portraits of himself and of Frank Wouters, Mr. Heusch, ib.; Lady at her Toilet, Two Ladies drinking Tea, Interior of a Household, Male Portrait, Louvre; Artist and his Wife, Boy blowing Soap-Bubbles (1663), Portraits of Florentius Schuijl (1666) and of Mieris and his wife, Hague Museum; Lady writing Letter (1680), Lady playing Guitar, Frailty, Jacob's Dream, Escaped Bird (1676), Amsterdam Museum; Rembrandt's Mother, Brunswick Gallery; Boy giving Water to his Bird (1665), Male Portrait, Carlsruhe Gallery; Sent on an Errand, Officer with Bumper, Portraits (3, one dated 1662), Gallery, Copenhagen; Drinking the Health, Reading before School-*master, Male Portrait (1665), Moltke Collection, ib.; Young Peasant Woman drawing Water, Girl and Boy with Basket and Pitcher, Woman peeling Apple for Child, Gotha Museum; Man Drinking (1664), Leipsic Museum; Oyster Breakfast (1661), Soldier in Armor, Lady with Lap-dog, Lady fainting and Physician (1662), Lady feeding Parrot, Lute-player (1663), Conversation (1666), Portrait of the Artist, do. of his Wife (1667), Boys with Drum and Fife (1670), Trumpeter (1672), four others, Old Pinakothek, Munich; Portraits of the Artist and his Wife, Lady at the Piano (1658), Candaules and Gyges, Schwerin Gallery; Tinker Girl listening to an Old Woman (1671), Old Man holding a Pitcher, Young Woman with Dog, Old Woman with Flower-Pot, Young Soldier Smoking, Old Scholar at a Bow Window, Man in Cuirass leaning on his Sword, Girl feeding Parrot, Cloth-Dealer, The Artist and Wife in his Studio, Another Studio Scene, Magdalen (1674), Lute-player (1675), Allegory of Poetry, Dresden Gallery; Young Lady before Mirror, Portrait of Young Man, Berlin Museum; The Toilet, Oyster Repast, The Artist and Wife, Female Portrait, two others, Hermitage, St. Petersburg; Feeling the Pulse (1651), Scene in a Shop (1660), Male Portrait, Museum, Vienna; Lady Harpist (1668), Liechtenstein Gallery, ib.; Female Portrait, Czernin Gallery, ib.; Portrait of himself, do. of his Son Jan, Old Couple at Table, Family of the Artist (1675), The Charletan, The Sleeper, Old Man offering Money to Young Woman, Uffizi, Florence; The Good Mother, Guitar Player, Artist's portrait, Turin Gallery.—Allgem. d. Biogr., xxi. 714;