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Lit brightly against an otherwise shadowy room, a seated, older woman and a standing young boy face each near a spinning wheel in this horizontal painting. Both have pale skin. The woman sits in a wooden chair facing our left in profile, as she cuts a slice into the top of a brown loaf in her lap. Her eyes and downturned mouth are lined with wrinkles, and jowls sag along her jawline. She has slightly protruding eyes, and the skin of her neck hangs a little loose. Her head is wrapped in a white, lace-edged scarf, which is gathered at the base of her skull. She wears a white, pleated ruff around her neck, which rests across a brown vest over golden-yellow sleeves. Light shimmers on her slate-gray apron, which drapes over a muted, cinnamon-brown skirt. The toes of black shoes peek out beneath her skirt, propped up on a block. She looks toward the boy who stands at her far knee, to our left. His body is angled toward the woman so his face is in shadow, and he looks down over clasped hands. His fingers are interlaced except for his steepled index fingers. He wears a worn brown jacket with frayed cuffs, and silver buttons down the front. His pants are olive green and his shoes are brown. A plate with a yellow substance sits on a three-legged stool near the woman and boy. Next to it, near the wall to our left, sunlight coming in from that window glints off the wooden spinning wheel. A handful of unspun, white wool sits in a cage atop a staff resting through the spokes of the wheel. Wood beams run across the wooden ceiling and frame the walls. The floor is also wood.

Frans van Mieris

Saying Grace, c. 1650/1655

West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 50A

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

overall: 34.3 x 40 cm (13 1/2 x 15 3/4 in.)

framed: 57.31 × 63.02 × 6.99 cm (22 9/16 × 24 13/16 × 2 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection)

Accession Number

2014.136.31

Artists / Makers

Frans van Mieris (painter) Dutch, 1635 - 1681

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Provenance

(Sale, Gottfried von Preyer, Vienna, 1902). purchased c. 1902 by William A. Clark [1839-1925], New York, as Gerard Dou; bequest 1926 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Clark, William Andrews
Corcoran Gallery of Art

Exhibition History

1908: Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1908-1909, no catalogue.

1978: The William A. Clark Collection: An exhibition marking the 50th Anniversary of the installation of The Clark Collection at The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, no checklist.

2005: Amorous Intrigues and Painterly Refinement: The Art of Frans van Mieris, Royal Picture Gallery, Mauritshuis, The Hague; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2005-2006, no. 3, as The Lesson (shown only in Washington).

Bibliography

1901: Martin, Wilhelm. Het Leven en de werken van Gerrit Dou. Leiden, 1901: 145 n. 1.

1911: Martin, Wilhelm. Gérard Dou, sa vie et son oeuvre: Etude sur la peinture hollandaise et les marchands au dix-septième siècle. Paris, 1911: 140, n. 1.

1925: Carroll, Dana H. Catalogue of Objects of Fine Art and Other Properties at the Home of William Andrews Clark, 962 Fifth Avenue. Part I. Unpublished manuscript, n.d. (1925): 176, no. 183, as The Lesson, Gerard Dou.

1928: Corcoran Gallery of Art. Illustrated Handbook of the W.A. Clark Collection. Washington, 1928: 41.

1932: Corcoran Gallery of Art. Illustrated Handbook of the W.A. Clark Collection. Washington, 1932: 44.

1955: Breckenridge, James D. A handbook of Dutch and Flemish paintings in the William Andrews Clark collection. Washington, 1955: 14, repro., as Studio of Gerard Dou, The Lesson.

1968: Wilson, Patricia Boyd. "The Lesson." Christian Science Monitor (31 August 1968): The Home Forum: repro.

1981: Naumann, Otto. Frans van Mieris (1635-1681), the Elder. 2 vols. Doornspijk, 1981: 1:38, 43-44, 122, 2:11, no. 6, pl. 6.

1986: Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Washington and Grand Rapids, 1986: 300.

2006: Franits, Wayne E. Pieter de Hooch: A woman preparing bread and butter for a boy. Getty Museum Studies on Art. Los Angeles, 2006: 26 fig. 21.