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Child’s Lesson (Hannah Entrusting Her Son Samuel into the Care ofthe High Priest Eli?)Page 2 of 8

Child’s Lesson (Hannah Entrusting Her
Son Samuel into the Care of the High PriestEli?)
Frans van Mieris(Leiden 1635 – 1681 Leiden)

ca. 1656–57
oil on panel with arched top
29.2 x 21.7 cm
signed in light-colored paint, lower left corner: “F.
van Mieris” ( “F” slightly cropped)
FM-102

How to cite
Buvelot, Quentin. “Child’s Lesson (Hannah Entrusting Her Son Samuel into the Care of the High Priest Eli?)” (2017). InThe Leiden Collection Catalogue, 3rd ed. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and Lara Yeager-Crasselt. New York,
2020–23. https://www.theleidencollection.com/archive/ (archived December 2023).
A PDF of every version of this entry is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive is managed by apermanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrative occurs.

Child’s Lesson is one of Frans van Mieris’s early works, probably painted around
[1]

1657.

Comparative Figures

In this evocative painting, a young mother tenderly holding her son’s handlooks up at a kindly old man holding a book close to his side. Van Mieris situated thethree figures in a darkened interior before a brick arch. The dim light passing throughthe leaded-glass windows in a back room reveals a wooden flight of steps winding to
the left, but all of the visual attention rests on the three figures. The attractive woman,
who wears a black headscarf, is dressed fashionably in a bluish-purple skirt and a goldcolored upper garment with décolletage.[2] Her blond son, dressed in a buttonedjerkin, has laid the book he is reading on his mother’s lap beside his plumed cap. The
refined rendering of these garments and feathers displays the Leiden artist’s great
virtuosity even at this early period of his career.[3]Depictions of women and children in domestic interiors are frequently found in
Dutch art.[4] The most direct prototype for Child’s Lesson is an engaging painting byFig 1. Gerard ter Borch, The Reading
Lesson, ca. 1652, oil on panel, 27 x 25cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris,
Département des Peintures, Bequest ofLouis La Caze, 1869, MI 1006, Photo:
Gérard Blot, © RMN-Grand Palais /Art Resource, NY

Gerard ter Borch (1617–81), The Reading Lesson, ca. 1652 (fig 1), which is one of anumber of Ter Borch’s paintings that inspired Van Mieris at various stages of his© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Child’s Lesson (Hannah Entrusting Her Son Samuel into the Care ofthe High Priest Eli?)Page 3 of 8career.[5] In both paintings the mother is seen in profile while her son, with longflowing locks, reads from a book in her lap. As in this instance, Ter Borch seems tohave helped Van Mieris develop his narrative style to convey a sense of emotional
intimacy between figures, which would become a hallmark of his mature style.
The motif of a mother teaching her children is rooted in allegorical images ofGrammar, one of the seven liberal arts.[6] Sixteenth-century prints, such as those madeby Cornelis Drebbel after Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617) (fig 2), helped spread thismotif to Dutch painters, who translated it into a more contemporary context.[8] As in
Drebbel’s print after Goltzius, a man is present in Van Mieris’s Child’s Lesson. With
his advanced years, beard, brown coat and book, he exhibits all the characteristics ofa scholar. Perhaps he is a teacher who has come to give the boy extra instruction andis smiling approvingly because he has found the mother giving her son reading
lessons. The elderly man also serves a visual counterpoint to the elegant mother, withher smooth skin, and her young son, providing the artist the opportunity to contrast

Fig 2. Cornelis Drebbel, afterHendrick Goltzius, Grammar,engraving, 164 x 128 mm,Rijksmuseum, Rijksprentenkabinet,
Amsterdam, RP-P-BI-7173

the differing ages of the three figures.
Van Mieris’s painting has, with good reason, been linked to the Old Testament storyof Hannah (I Samuel 1:24–28). Hannah was not able to conceive a child until she had
prayed for a son and promised to relinquish him to the priesthood. It has been argued
that Van Mieris depicted the moment at which Hannah entrusted her son Samuel into
the care of the high priest Eli.[9] This interpretation would certainly explain themeaningful gaze exchanged between the woman and the old man, as well as his attire,
which seems to be rather old-fashioned.
Van Mieris did occasionally paint history scenes in his later years, such as Death ofLucretia from 1679 (see FM-103). Much like his friend Jan Steen (1625/26–79), heoften situated these scenes in seventeenth-century domestic settings, as in his
Jeroboam’s Wife with the Prophet Ahijah, 1671, a scene from the Old Testament (fig3).[10] Even though Van Mieris did not situate the figures in a temple, as did otherpainters from the Dutch Golden Age who portrayed Hannah entrusting her son

Fig 3. Frans van Mieris the Elder,
Jeroboam’s Wife with the Prophet
Ahijah, 1671, oil on panel, 24 x 20
cm, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille,
293, Photo: Quecq d’Henripret, ©
RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource,
NY

Samuel to Eli, it is likely that the Leiden master was inspired by this biblical story inrendering this intimate scene.[11]- Quentin Buvelot, 2017

© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Child’s Lesson (Hannah Entrusting Her Son Samuel into the Care ofthe High Priest Eli?)Page 4 of 8Endnotes
1. This dating was proposed verbally in 2005 to the author by Naumann, who had previously dated it tocirca 1662–63 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 1:66, 2: 61). Plietzsch had already proposed an earlier dating (Eduard Plietzsch, Holländische undflämische Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts [Leipzig, 1960], 53).
2. The dress is comparable to that worn by the sitter of A Woman Holding a Black Feather (Portrait ofCunera van der Cock), datable to 1658–60, in Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Kunstmuseum, Basel (OttoNaumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:59–60, no. 48; Paul H.
Boerlin, Im Lichte Hollands: Holländ. Malerei d. 17. Jh. aus d. Sammlungen d. Fürsten von Liechtensteinu. aus Schweizer Besit [Exh. cat. Basel, Kunstmuseum] [Zurich, 1987], 164–65, no. 56), as alreadypointed out by Naumann, 2: 60, and Meredith Hale in Dutch and Flemish Old Master Paintings (Salescat. Johnny van Haeften, Ltd.) (London, 2002), in no. 18, note 1.
3. The author has benefited greatly from Bieke van der Mark’s entry in Quentin Buvelot, ed., Frans vanMieris 1635–1681 (Exh. cat. The Hague, Mauritshuis; Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art)
(Zwolle, 2005), no. 12.
4. See, for example, Mary Frances Durantini, The Child in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting (Ann Arbor,1983).
5. Sturla J. Gudlaugsson, Katalog der Gemälde Gerard ter Borchs sowie biographisches Material, 2 vols.
(The Hague, 1959–60), 2:108; Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols.
(Doornspijk, 1981), 1: 66; Marjorie E. Wieseman in Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., ed., Gerard ter Borch(Exh. cat. Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art; Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Arts; Amsterdam,Rijksmuseum) (Zwolle, 2004), 88.
6. Mary Frances Durantini, The Child in Seventeenth Century Dutch Painting (Ann Arbor, 1983), 94.
7. For the print, part of a series of seven, see Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 1:66 and fig. 81.
8. Bettina Werche, “Frans van Mieris D. Ä.,” in Leselust: Niederländische Malerei von Rembrandt bisVermeer, ed. Sabine Schulze (Exh. cat. Frankfurt, Schirn Kunsthalle) (Frankfurt, 1993), 252; Marjorie
E. Wieseman in Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., ed., Gerard ter Borch (Exh. cat. Washington D.C., National
Gallery of Art; Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) (Zwolle, 2004), 88. See also Mary Frances Durantini, The
Child in Seventeenth Century Dutch Painting (Ann Arbor, 1983), fig. 47.
9. Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 1:66 n. 11, 2:61.
10. Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 2: no. 85; Peter vander Ploeg in Quentin Buvelot, ed., Frans van Mieris 1635–1681 (Exh. cat. The Hague, Mauritshuis;
Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art) (Zwolle, 2005), no. 43.
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the High Priest Eli?)Page 5 of 8

11. See the list in Andor Pigler, Barockthemen: Eine Auswahl von Verzeichnissen zur Ikonographie des 17.
und 18. Jahrhunderts, 2 vols. (Budapest, 1974), 1:134–35; see also Otto Naumann, Frans vanMieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 2: 61.

Provenance
Probably Adam Gottlob, Count Moltke, Copenhagen; by inheritance to Frederik Christian Moltke vanBregentved, Copenhagen, until 1931 (Moltke sale, V. Winkel & Magnussen, Copenhagen, 1 June 1931,no. 86).[1][Frank T. Sabin, London, 1934].
Abraham Bronkhorst (1886–1944), The Hague, 1935.
[D. Katz, Dieren and Nijmegen, 1935–36].
[S. Nijstad, The Hague].
Mr. & Mrs. Lloyd H. Smith, 1969–2000 (their sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 25 May 2000, no. 47 [Johnnyvan Haeften Ltd., London, 2002–4]).
From whom acquired by the present owner in 2004.

Provenance Notes

1. A seal on the back of the panel still attests to this prestigious provenance. For the Moltke Collection, see
Ben Broos, Intimacies and Intrigues: History Paintings in the Mauritshuis, The Hague, 1993, 98–99, withnumerous references. The number “86” on the back of the panel refers to the 1931 sale of the Moltke
Collection in Copenhagen, see Provenance. Portrait of a Fifty-Two-Year Old Man (FM-104) also comesfrom the Moltke Collection.

Exhibition HistoryLondon, Frank T. Sabin, “Autumn Exhibition: Dutch and Flemish 17th-Century Paintings,” October
1934, no. 8.
Rotterdam, Rotterdamse Kunstkring, “Tentoonstelling van schilderijen door Oud-Hollandsche en
Vlaamsche meesters waaronder beroemde meesterwerken als Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Jan Steen enz.
enz. uit de collectie der Fa. D. Katz te Dieren,” 16 November–15 December 1935, no. 41 [lent byAbraham Bronkhorst].
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The Hague, Gemeentemuseum, “Oude Kunst uit Haagsche Bezit,” 12 December 1936–31 January 1937,
no. 123.
Almelo, De Waag, “Oude Kunst uit Twents Particulier Bezit,” 31 October–30 November 1953, no. 27.
Frankfurt, Schirn Kunsthalle, “Leselust: Niederländische Malerei von Rembrandt bis Vermeer,” 24September 1993–2 January 1994, no. 58.
London, Johnny van Haeften Ltd., “Dutch and Flemish Old Master Paintings,” 2002, no. 18.
The Hague, Mauritshuis, “Frans van Mieris 1635–1681: Painted Perfection,” 1 October 2005–22
January 2006, no. 44 [lent by the present owner].
Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art, “Amorous Intrigues and Painterly Refinement: The Art ofFrans van Mieris,” 26 February–21 May 2006, no. 44 [lent by the present owner].
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, on loan with the permanent collection, January 2010–February 2012;
February 2014–February 2016 [lent by the present owner].
Beijing, National Museum of China, “Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpieces from The LeidenCollection,” 17 June–3 September 2017 [lent by the present owner].
Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund, “Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden Age:Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection,” 23 September 2017–25 February 2018 [lent by the presentowner].
Moscow, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, “The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer: Masterpiecesof The Leiden Collection,” 28 March 2018–22 July 2018 [lent by the present owner].
St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum, “The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer: Masterpieces ofThe Leiden Collection,” 5 September 2018–13 January 2019 [lent by the present owner].

References
Catalogue des tableaux de la collection du comte de Moltke. Copenhagen, 1885, 26, no. 45.
Champlin, John Denison, and Charles C. Perkins, eds. Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings. 3 vols. NewYork, 1887, 3:265.
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of
the Seventeenth Century Based on the Work of John Smith. Edited and translated by Edward G. Hawke,
10: 24, no. 83. 8 vols. London, 1907–1928. Originally published as Beschreibendes und kritisches
Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten höllandischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 10 vols.
Esslingen and Paris, 1907–1928.
Gudlaugsson, Sturla J. Katalog der Gemälde Gerard ter Borchs sowie biographisches Material. 2 vols. TheHague, 1959–60, 1:257, 2 : 08.
Plietzsch, Eduard. Holländische und flämische Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts. Leipzig, 1960, 53.
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Naumann, Otto. Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder. 2 vols. Doornspijk, 1981, 1: 66 and nn. 10 and11, 2:60–61, no. 50.
Werche, Bettina. “Frans van Mieris D. Ä.” In Leselust: Niederländische Malerei von Rembrandt bisVermeer. Edited by Sabine Schulze, 252–53, no. 58. Exh. cat. Frankfurt, Schirn Kunsthalle. Frankfurt,1993.
Hale, Meredith. “The Child’s Lesson.” In Dutch and Flemish Old Master Paintings Sales cat. Johnny vanHaeften, Ltd. London, 2002, no. 18.
Wieseman, Marjorie E. “The Reading Lesson.” In Gerard ter Borch. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.,88, 201 n. 5. Exh. cat. Washington, National Gallery of Art; Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Zwolle, 2004.
Van der Mark, Bieke. “The Child’s Lesson.” In Frans van Mieris 1635–1681. Edited by Quentin
Buvelot, 104–6, no. 12. Exh. cat. The Hague, Mauritshuis; Washington, National Gallery of Art. Zwolle,2005.
Buvelot, Quentin, Otto Naumann, and Eddy de Jongh. Frans van Mieris 1635–1681. Edited by Quentin
Buvelot, 225, no. 12, 234, no. 50. Exh. cat. The Hague, Mauritshuis; Washington, National Gallery ofArt. Zwolle, 2005.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Child’s Lesson.” In Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpieces from The Leiden
Collection. Edited by Lara Yeager-Crasselt, 94; 181, no. 37. Translated by Li Ying. Exh. cat. Beijing,
National Museum of China. Beijing, 2017.
Long Museum, West Bund. Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden Age: Masterpieces fromThe Leiden Collection. Exh. cat. Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund. Shanghai, 2017, 110–11.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Child’s Lesson.” In The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer: Masterpieces of TheLeiden Collection. Edited by Polina Lyubimova, 132–33; 238, no. 33. Translated by Daria Babich andDaria Kuzina. Exh. cat. Moscow, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts; St. Petersburg, The StateHermitage Museum. Moscow, 2018.

Versions
Versions and Copies
Formerly Emile Wolf, New York, oil on panel, 27 x 22.2 cm; Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris(1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 2:61, no. 50a.

Technical Summary
The support, a single plank of vertically grained, rectangular wedge-shaped oak with an arched upper edge,© 2024 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Child’s Lesson (Hannah Entrusting Her Son Samuel into the Care of
the High Priest Eli?)Page 8 of 8

has bevels along all four sides and a shim glued to the lower edge.[1] The panel is unthinned and uncradled
and appears to have been trimmed slightly along the left vertical edge. Along the panel reverse there is one
red wax collection seal, two old paper labels, and a numerical inscription but no import stamps, panel maker’s
mark or machine tool marks.
A white-colored ground was applied followed by a brown transparent underlayer used as a mid-tone,
particularly through the man’s and boy’s faces, jackets, and hair and shadows of the woman’s blue skirt.
Infrared images captured at 1700 nanometers reveal a loose and fluid sketch roughly outlining forms anddefining silhouettes, and along the female figure’s proper left hand. The image was constructed in paintapplied in thin layers of opaque underpaint along the blue skirt and final thin transparent glazing, dependingon the intended effect. There appear to be artist’s fingerprints along the man’s beard and boy’s hair.
The painting is signed in light-colored paint along the lower left corner but is undated. The “F” appears
slightly cropped, suggesting the left panel edge was trimmed slightly.
No compositional changes are evident in the infrared images or X-radiograph.
The painting was cleaned and restored in 2009 and remains in a good state of preservation despite areas ofthinness through the man’s and boy’s jackets.[2]Technical Summary Endnotes

1. The characterization of the wood is based on visual examination of the X-radiograph and panel reverse
images by Ian Tyers. According to Tyers, the panel has good potential for dendrochronology. The upperarched edge could be examined, but it would be preferable if the lower shim could be removed.
2. Entry based on 2011 examination report by Kate Smith, paintings conservator, Museum of Fine Arts,Boston.

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