Frans van Mieris

Dutch, 1635 - 1681

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Dutch painter (1635–1681)

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A pale-skinned, bearded man sits at a table set in front of a window and smokes a pipe in this vertical painting. Light pours in from the window and leaves much of the room behind the man in deep shadow. The man’s body is angled to our left, and he rests his right elbow, also to our left, on the table and looks steadily at us. The man has a round face with rosy cheeks and a copper-red beard. His dark, gold-edged hat rolls back away from his face, creating an upward flounce. His cream-white, lace-edged collar lies across his shoulders over a gorget, the piece of silver armor that encircles the neck and comes to a point over the chest. His plum-purple sleeveless jacket and loose, knee-length britches have a sheen. Voluminous white sleeves are covered with strips of black and golden yellow fabric, and yellow fabric flares like a mini cape behind the sleeve we see. The man wears a tawny-brown glove on his left hand, to our right. That hand rests on his hip with the palm facing out. He holds the long, white clay pipe to his lips with his other ungloved hand. A wisp of smoke rises from a burning ember at the end of the pipe. The man’s pants are edged with gold around the bottom hem, which fall loosely around teal-green stockings. His slouchy black boots have square toes, and the tops fall down to reveal crimson-red undersides. A brass band wraps across the arch of the foot closer to us, and a star-shaped spur projects off the back. The man sits on a three-legged stool with a triangular seat. More armor, a horn, and a banner with fringed edges lie in a heap in the bottom right corner of the painting. To the left, a playing card, a seven of hearts, lies face up near a second chair, this one wood with a seat upholstered in iron gray. A forest-green cloak edged with gold fringe is draped over the high back of that seat, and a staff with a metal finial leans against the cloak. The seat and stool face a table mostly covered with a sage-green cloth. More playing cards, three more white clay pipes, a tall glass of beer, a clay pot, and a white jug with a narrow silver lid sit on the table. A sack and perhaps a firearm hang on the wall to the left of the arched window, which is set in the thick gray wall. The floor is wood plank, and the space behind the man falls into shadow but appears to be empty. The artist signed the painting as if he had inscribed his name on the side of the chair with the cloak: “FvMieris.”
Frans van Mieris, A Soldier Smoking a Pipe, c. 1657/1658, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2016.10.1

A Soldier Smoking a Pipe

Frans van Mieris · c. 1657/1658 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  2016.10.1

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, oil on panel, Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection), 2014.136.31

Saying Grace

Frans van Mieris · c. 1650/1655 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  2014.136.31

Bibliography

1753

  • Houbraken, Arnold. De Groot Schouburgh der Nederlandtsche Konstschilders en Schilderessen. 3 vols. in 1. The Hague, 1753: 3:1-12.

1981

  • Naumann, Otto. Frans van Mieris (1635-1681). 2 vols. Doornspijk, 1981.

2005

  • Buvelot, Quentin, et al. Frans van Mieris (1635-1681). Exh. cat., The Mauritshuis, The Hague, 2005.