Young Woman Feeding a Parrot
Frans van Mieris(Leiden 1635 – 1681 Leiden)

1663
oil on panel
22.4 x 17.7 cm
formerly signed and dated: “F.van Mieris fect
Anno 1663”
FM-112© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
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How to cite
Buvelot, Quentin. “Young Woman Feeding a Parrot” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 2nd ed.
Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017–20. https://theleidencollection.com/artwork/woman-feedinga-parrot/ (archived May 2020).
A PDF of every version of this entry is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive ismanaged by a permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrative
occurs.

Frans van Mieris’s fame derives from his interior genre scenes depicting the[1]daily affairs of wealthy Dutch citizens.

Comparative Figures

Many of these paintings consist of

two people interacting with each other in some idle fashion, but, as in thisstunning painting, he also portrayed single figures relaxing within theirdomestic spheres. Here, within this darkened room,[2] a richly dressed young
woman with a fashionable hairstyle has just interrupted her needlework—aneedle cushion is on her lap and a thimble is on one of her fingers—to feed
the tame gray parrot sitting on one of the perches of a fine wooden stand.
Parrots were kept as pets in the seventeenth century, and Van Mieris
depicted them on other occasions in his genre scenes.[3] He may havepainted this exotic bird, a Psittacus eritachus, for no other reason than toemphasize the luxurious surroundings.[4] Notably, though, in images of theVirgin Mary and in marriage portraits, parrots often alluded to virtuousness ormarital chastity. The parrot has also been interpreted as a symbol of

Fig 1. “Maeghde-Wapen,”engraving from Jacob Cats,
Houwelyck (Haarlem, 1642), with
“Leer-sucht” (eagerness to learn)
depicted by the woman at the left

eloquence and eagerness to learn, because the brightly colored bird can betamed and taught to mimic speech.[5] This, in any case, is the creature’s
apparent role in a print in Jacob Cats’s Houwelyck (Marriage) from 1625, in
which a woman represents “Leer-sucht” (eagerness to learn) with anembroidery frame and a squawking parrot on her hand (fig 1).[6] The
needlework of the woman in Van Mieris’s painting, which can be construed
as an allusion to industry and virtue, similarly underscores the parrot’s
symbolic meaning. The bird probably denotes the good upbringing of thewoman, who bears a striking resemblance to the painter’s wife, Cunera van© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
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der Cock (see FM-107).[7] A similar interpretation may be applied to otherworks that include this motif, such as the painting by Gabriel Metsu
discussed below, in which a woman is shown still working on her needleworkwith the parrot perched on top of a cage.
This well-preserved masterpiece shows the artist’s marvelous technique togreat advantage, for in this smoothly executed and precise image Van Mieris
achieved a perfect rendering of textures. One is almost inclined to touch thepainting and feel the fabric of the woman’s expensive clothes made ofshimmering satin, velvet and fur. The sheen of light on the red velvet ishandled as sharp white lines and veils of white. Van Mieris’s small scenes
were not intended to be viewed from a distance, but even up close, the paintof the woman’s face is so finely blended that the artist’s brushstrokes

Fig 2. Frans van Mieris the Elder(studio copy?), Woman Feeding a
Parrot, after 1663, oil on copper,
22.5 x 17.3 cm, The National
Gallery, London, NG 840

remain invisible to the eye. In order to produce such a refined painting, Van
Mieris must have applied layer after layer, in both the underpainting and in
the final paint.[8]The painting was formerly signed in full and dated “1663,” but the signatureand date disappeared during a cleaning in 2009, a not uncommon
phenomenon with Van Mieris’s paintings.[9] An unsigned work in London (fig2), painted on a copperplate and of slightly lesser quality, has traditionallybeen regarded as an autograph replica of this panel painting.[10] After the twoworks were shown side by side in an exhibition at the National Gallery in
London in 2010, however, subtle differences were noted in the way texturesof materials were rendered, which seems to indicate that the London version
was made by another painter working in Van Mieris’s studio.[11] Little is
known about how his studio was actually organized, so even the very

Fig 3. Gabriel Metsu, Woman
Sewing, with a Parrot, after 1663,
oil on panel, 35 x 27 cm, Pushkin
State Museum of Fine Arts,
Moscow, 693

question of whether Van Mieris made autograph replicas remains
unresolved.[12]The London painting and more than two dozen copies made after Young
Woman Feeding a Parrot attest to the great popularity of this small
masterpiece.[13] The composition must also have made a great impact on
fellow painters.[14] Van Mieris’s famous teacher Gerrit Dou (1613–75), forexample, depicted the subject of a woman with a parrot probably only after
his pupil had finished the present painting (see GD-105).[15] Van Mieris’s
paintings also inspired many of his contemporaries, including Johannes
Vermeer (1632–75) and Gabriel Metsu (1629–67). The latter artist’s Woman
Sewing, with a Parrot (fig 3) is so similar to Young Woman Feeding a Parrot
that it is very likely that Metsu tried to emulate Van Mieris’s work even as hetranslated Van Mieris’s painting technique into his own visual vocabulary.[16]© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
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Young Woman Feeding a Parrot was formerly one of the highlights of thepaintings collection of the Bavarian Electors.[17] It had probably beenacquired by Elector Maximilian II Emanuel of Bavaria (1662–1726). As of1836, it was exhibited in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. In the latter half ofthe nineteenth century, the paintings by Van Mieris and other fijnschilders
such as Gerrit Dou gradually fell from favor. Ironically, this rejection of theirwork was based on the same qualities that had attracted such admiration in
the beginning, namely, their refined brushstrokes. In the nineteenth century,
the view had gradually taken hold that a painter’s work must display his
distinctive hand. The precise imitation of reality was seen less and less as an
artistic virtue; on the contrary, it was considered a reprehensible “trick,”certainly after the advent of photography. With this shift, art was viewed andvalued increasingly in terms of expression.
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69) and Frans Hals (1582/83–1666) became
Dutch national symbols after their “rediscovery” by the French art critic
Étienne-Joseph-Théophile Thoré (1807–69), who published under thepseudonym Willem Bürger.[18] Their loosely painted works formed a major
source of inspiration for impressionists and others, whereas the work of the
fijnschilders lost its influence.[19] In the 1920s and 1930s this reversal inappreciation eventually led some German museums to deaccession
numerous works by the fijnschilders, including Young Woman Feeding a
Parrot, which was sold in 1936. After World War II the painting entered thecollection of Charles Dunlap of Philadelphia. When his widow sold the workat auction in 1975, the painting became part of the collection of Lord Harold
Samuel (1912–87), who eventually bequeathed most of his collection to theCity of London to be placed in Mansion House.[20] Only a few paintings,
including the present one, were not part of this bequest.[21] In December
2008, Van Mieris’s masterpiece was sold at a public auction, and shortly
thereafter it was acquired for the Leiden Collection.

- Quentin Buvelot, 2017

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Endnotes

1. An earlier, more condensed version of this text was published by the author in Sandrina
Bandera, Walter Liedtke, and Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. eds., Johannes Vermeer: Il secolo d’oro
dell’arte olandese (Exh. cat. Rome, Scuderie del Quirinale) (Rome, 2012), 170–71, no. 32.
2. Barely visible in the background at left is a bed with curtains and on the right an open door.
3. See, for example, Frans van Mieris the Elder, The Duet, 1658, panel, 31.5 x 24.6 cm,
Staatliches Museum, Schwerin, inv. no. G 82. See Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris(1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 2: no. 22; Quentin Buvelot, ed., Frans van
Mieris 1635–1681 (Exh. cat. The Hague, Mauritshuis; Washington D.C., National Gallery ofArt) (New Haven, 2005), no. 17.
4. This African species was identified by Nancy J. Clum, ornithology curator, Wildlife
Conservation Society, Bronx, New York; see Joseph M. Forshaw, Parrots of the World: An
Identification Guide (Princeton, 2006), 89 and pl. 66 (with thanks to Dominique Surh of The
Leiden Collection for supplying this reference).
5. See Eddy de Jongh in Quentin Buvelot, ed., Frans van Mieris 1635–1681 (Exh. cat. The
Hague, Mauritshuis; Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art) (New Haven, 2005), 50.
6. Wayne E. Franits, Paragons of Virtue: Women and Domesticity in Seventeenth-Century
Dutch Art (Cambridge, 1993), 20–21, fig. 7.
7. This resemblance has been noted in earlier literature on the painting; see the remarks in Otto
Naumann, “Frans van Mieris as a Draughtsman,” Master Drawings 16, no. 1 (1978): 25, in no.
2. See also Quentin Buvelot, Otto Naumann, and Eddy de Jongh, Frans van Mieris
1635–1681 (Exh. cat. The Hague, Mauritshuis; Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art)
(New Haven, 2005), 163.
8. The technique of Van Mieris’s Young Woman Feeding a Parrot is discussed extensively by E.
Melanie Gifford, “Fine Painting and Eloquent Imprecision: Gabriel Metsu’s Painting
Technique,” in Gabriel Metsu, ed. Adriaan E. Waiboer (Exh. cat. Dublin, National Gallery of
Ireland; Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum; Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art) (New Haven,2010), 176–77.
9. For vanishing signatures in original Van Mieris paintings, see Otto Naumann Ltd., Inaugural
Exhibition of Old Master Paintings (Exh. cat. New York, Otto Naumann, Ltd.) (Turin, 1995),
121 n. 4.
10. See Neil MacLaren, The Dutch School 1600–1900, National Gallery Catalogues, rev. ed., 2
vols. (London, 1991), 1:262–64; Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2
vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 2: 65–66, no. 54-II (with literature references); Quentin Buvelot, Otto
Naumann, and Eddy de Jongh, Frans van Mieris 1635–1681 (Exh. cat. The Hague,© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
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Mauritshuis; Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art) (New Haven, 2005), 163, with thepaintings reproduced next to each other, full page, on 164–65.
11. Marjorie Wieseman, “A Woman in a Red Jacket Feeding a Parrot,” in Close Examination:
Fakes, Mistakes, and Discoveries (Exh. website, National Gallery, London, 2010).
12. Other alleged replicas have lost their autograph status since the publication of the catalogue
accompanying the monographic show devoted to Van Mieris in 2005–6 in The Hague andWashington D.C. See Quentin Buvelot and Otto Naumann in Frans van Mieris 1635–1681,(Exh. cat. The Hague, Mauritshuis; Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art) (New Haven,2005), 233, no. 20-II, 235, no. 71-II, both as after Frans van Mieris the Elder.
13. Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 2:66–69.
14. Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 1:64,
67–68. Contemporaries of Van Mieris painted comparable scenes. Pieter Cornelisz van
Slingelandt (1640–91), for example, made a small painting of a young woman feeding aparrot (panel, 15.5 x 11.5 cm, signed; formerly in the Rothschild collection, later sold inSotheby’s, London, 9 July 1975, no. 67; see Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes
und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten Höllandischen Maler des XVII.
Jahrhunderts, 10 vols. (Esslingen and Paris, 1907–28), 5: no. 111; Otto Naumann, Frans van
Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 1: fig. 87, repr. in mirror image).
Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705) made a larger painting with a woman feeding her parrot,
formerly in the famous Moltke collection (panel, 41 x 36 cm; signed at the back; sale
Sotheby’s, New York, 16 May 1996, no. 35, repr.). Ary de Vois (1630/35–80) painted thesame subject, however this time with a woman feeding a parrot in a landscape(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. no. SK-A-458; see Eric Jan Sluijter, Marlies Enklaar, andPaul Niewenhuizen, eds. Leidse fijnschilders: van Gerrit Dou tot Frans van Mieris de Jonge
1630–1760 [Exh. cat. Leiden, Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal] [Zwolle, 1988], 253–55, no.
90).
15. Private collection, United States; see Wilhelm Martin, Gerard Dou: Des Meisters Gemälde(Stuttgart and Berlin, 1913), fig. 111; Adriaan E. Waiboer, Gabriel Metsu, Life and Work: A
Catalogue Raisonné (New Haven, 2012), 375 n. 114.
16. Wayne E. Franits, Paragons of Virtue: Women and Domesticity in Seventeenth-Century
Dutch Art (Cambridge, 1993), 24; Adriaan E. Waiboer, Gabriel Metsu, Life and Work: A
Catalogue Raisonné (New Haven, 2012), 110; E. Melanie Gifford, “Fine Painting andEloquent Imprecision: Gabriel Metsu’s Painting Technique” in Gabriel Metsu, ed. Adriaan E.
Waiboer (Exh. cat. Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland; Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum;Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art) (New Haven, 2010), 176–77 and figs. 138, 140.
17. With thanks to Dr. Marcus Dekiert, former curator of Dutch and German baroque painting at
the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, who assisted most generously with the reconstruction of thedata given in the provenance section.
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18. See Quentin Buvelot, Otto Naumann, and Eddy de Jongh, Frans van Mieris 1635–1681 (Exh.
cat. The Hague, Mauritshuis; Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art) (New Haven, 2005),
12–13.
19. Exceptions confirm this rule; see Mona Hadler, “Manet’s Woman with a Parrot,” Metropolitan
Museum of Art Journal 7 (1973): 118–19 and fig. 3.
20. For the Samuel collection, see Peter C. Sutton, Dutch and Flemish Seventeenth-Century
Paintings: The Harold Samuel Collection (Cambridge, 1992).
21. Peter C. Sutton, Dutch and Flemish Seventeenth-Century Paintings: The Harold SamuelCollection (Cambridge, 1992), 8.

Provenance
The Collection of the Bavarian Electors, Schloss Schleißheim, Oberschleißheim, probably
acquired by Elector Maximilian II Emanuel of Bavaria (1662–1726), before 1726; by descentto Charles VII Albert (1697–1745), 1726–45; by descent to the Bavarian Electoral and Royal
Collection (Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen) in the following locations: Schloss
Schleißheim, 1748–75; Hofgartengalerie, Munich, by 1783; Alte Pinakothek, Munich,
1836–1923; Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Speyer, 1923–36 [D. A. Hoogendijk, Amsterdam, 19
August 1936].
Mr. and Mrs. David Birnbaum, who later changed their name to Bingham, New York, by 1942and until at least 1945.
Mr. Charles E. Dunlap (1889–1966), Philadelphia, probably by 1945; by descent to Mrs.
Charles Dunlap, New York (her sale, Sotheby’s Parke Bernet, New York, 3 December 1975,
no. 304 [Edward Speelman for Lord Harold Samuel for $155,000]).
Lord Harold Samuel (1912–87), Wych Cross Place, Sussex, England, 1975–87; by descent toLady Samuel of Wych Cross (sale, Sotheby’s, London, 5 December 2008, no. 25 [Johnny
van Haeften, Ltd., London]).
From whom acquired by the present owner.

Exhibition History
New York, Duveen Galleries, “Paintings by the Great Dutch Masters of the SeventeenthCentury: Loan Exhibition in Aid of the Queen Wilhelmina Fund and the American Women’s
Voluntary Services,” 8 October–7 November 1942, no. 34.
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Montreal, Art Association of Montreal, “Loan Exhibition of Great Paintings: Five Centuries ofDutch Art,” 9 March–9 April 1944, no. 85.
New York, M. Knoedler & Co., “Dutch Masters of the Seventeenth Century,” 5–24 February
1945, no. 9.
London, National Gallery, “Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes, and Discoveries,” 30
June–12 September 2010 [lent by the present owner].
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, on loan with the permanent collection, September
2009–June 2010 [lent by the present owner].
Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art, on loan with the permanent collection, December
2010 – December 2011 [lent by the present owner].
Rome, Scuderie del Quirinale, “Vermeer: Il secolo d’oro dell’arte olandese,” 20 September
2012–13 January 2013, no. 32 [lent by the present owner].
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, on loan with the permanent collection, April 2013–April 2015
[lent by the present owner].
Paris, Musée du Louvre, “Vermeer et les maîtres de la peinture de genre / Vermeer and theMasters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry,” 20 February–22 May 2017; Dublin,
National Gallery of Ireland, 17 June–17 September 2017; Washington, National Gallery of Art,
22 October–21 January 2018 [lent by the present owner].
Moscow, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, “The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer:
Masterpieces of 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 of The Leiden Collection,” 5 September 2018–13 January 2019 [lent by thepresent owner].
Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi, “Rembrandt, Vermeer and the Dutch Golden Age.
Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection and the Musée du Louvre,” 14 February–18 May
2019 [lent by the present owner].

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Buvelot, Quentin. “Donna che dà mangiare a un pappagallo” In Johannes Vermeer: Il secolod’oro dell’arte olandese. Edited by Sandrina Bandera, Walter Liedtke, and Arthur K. Wheelock
Jr., 170–71, no. 32. Exh. cat. Rome, Scuderie del Quirinale. Rome, 2012.
Waiboer, Adriaan. Gabriel Metsu, Life and Work: A Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven, 2012,© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
Page 12 of 17

110 and fig. 39.
Buvelot, Quentin. “Has the Great Age of Collecting Dutch Old Master Paintings Come to an
End?” In Holland’s Golden Age in America: Collecting the Art of Rembrandt, Vermeer andHals. Edited by Esmée Quodbach, 190–91, no. 107. New York, 2014.
Buvelot, Quentin, and Ariane van Suchtelen. Genre Paintings in the Mauritshuis. Zwolle,
2016, 140, no. 19f.
Ducos, Blaise. “Paris – New York – Paris Éliézer et Rébececa au puits de Ferdinand Bol: au
don au Louvre.” In Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection: The Age of Rembrandt. Edited by
Blaise Ducos and Dominique Surh, 16. Exh. cat. Paris, Musée du Louvre. Paris. 2017.
Gifford, E. Melanie and Lisha Deming Glinsman. “Style collectif et manière personelle:
Matériaux et techniques dans la peinture de genre.” In Vermeer et les maîtres de la peinture
de genre. Edited by Adriaan E. Waiboer, Blaise Ducos, and Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., 134–36,
fig, 62. Exh. cat. Paris, Musée du Louvre; Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland; Washington,
National Gallery of Art. Paris, 2017.
Waiboer, Adriaan. “Les Perroquets.” In Vermeer et les maîtres de la peinture de genre. Edited
by Adriaan E. Waiboer, Blaise Ducos, and Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., 317, 321, cat. no. 50. Exh.
cat. Paris, Musée du Louvre, Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland; Washington, National Galleryof Art. Paris, 2017.
Gifford, E. Melanie and Lisha Deming Glinsman. “Collective Style and Personal Manner:
Materials and Techniques of High-Life Genre Painting.” In Vermeer and the Masters of Genre
Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry. Edited by Adriaan E. Waiboer, Blaise Ducos, and Arthur K.
Wheelock Jr., 64–65, 79, fig. 42C. Exh. cat. Paris, Musée du Louvre; Dublin, National Galleryof Ireland; Washington, National Gallery of Art. New Haven and London, 2017.
Waiboer, Adriaan. “Birds of a Feather.” In Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting:
Inspiration and Rivalry. Edited by Adriaan E. Waiboer, Blaise Ducos, and Arthur K. Wheelock
Jr., 184, 186–87, 247, cat. 13.2. Exh. cat. Paris, Musée du Louvre; Dublin, National Gallery of
Ireland; Washington, National Gallery of Art. New Haven and London, 2017.
Ho, Angela K. Creating Distinctions in Dutch Genre Painting. Amsterdam, 2017, 164, fig. 55.
[erroneously noted as in a Private Collection, UK].
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “The Leiden Collection and the Dutch Golden Age.” In The Age of
Rembrandt and Vermeer: Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection. Edited by Polina
Lyubimova, 17, 24, 25, fig. 8; 32. Translated by Daria Babich and Daria Kuzina. Exh. cat.
Moscow, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts; St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage
Museum. Moscow, 2018.
McCarthy, Alexa. “Young Woman Feeding a Parrot.” In The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer:
Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection. Edited by Polina Lyubimova, 136–37; 238, no. 35.
Translated by Daria Babich and Daria Kuzina. Exh. cat. Moscow, The Pushkin State Museumof Fine Arts; St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum. Moscow, 2018.
© 2020 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
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Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “The Leiden Collection and the Dutch Golden Age.” In Rembrandt,
Vermeer and the Dutch Golden Age. Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection and the
Musée du Louvre. Edited by Blaise Ducos and Lara Yeager-Crasselt, 26, 30. Exh. cat. Abu
Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi. London, 2019. [Exhibition catalogue also published in French andArabic.]Ducos, Blaise, and Lara Yeager-Crasselt, eds. Rembrandt, Vermeer and the Dutch Golden
Age. Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection and the Musée du Louvre. Exh. cat. Abu
Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi. London, 2019, 54, 141–42, no. 63. [Exhibition catalogue also
published in French and Arabic.]

Versions
Prints

1. Ignaz Sebastian Klauber, after Frans van Mieris, Portrait of Frans van Mieris’s Wife (socalled), 1789, etching and engraving, 29.7 x 25.1 cm (plate from Tableaux, Statues, BasReliefs et Camées, de la Galerie de Florence et du Palais Pitti, vol. 2 [Paris: L. J. Masquelier,1792]).

2. Johann Nepomuk Strixner, after Frans van Mieris, Lady Feeding a Parrot, ca. 1819,
lithograph, 30 x 25 cm (plate from Ko?niglich-Baierischer Gema?lde Saal zu Mu?nchen undSchleissheim: Eine Sammlung ausgezeichneter Gema?lde der Pinacothek in Mu?nchen, vol.
1 [Munich, 1821]).

3. Albert Henry Payne, after Frans van Mieris, Dame & Papagei, ca. 1860, engraving, 19.7 x26.6 inches (plate from Die Gallerien von Mu?nchen: Eine Stahlstichsammlung dervorzu?glichsten Gema?lde der Ko?nigl. Pinakothek, der Herzogl. Leuchtenberg’schen undSchleisshiemer Gallerien [Leipzig and Dresden, 1853]).

4. Johann Burger, after Frans van Mieris, Dame mit dem Papagei, 1886, engraving, approx. 29
x 24 cm (plate from Jahrbuch der graphischen Ku?nste, Vervielfaltigende Kunst, Vienna,
1886).

Versions and Copies

1. Frans van Mieris the Elder, A Woman in a Red Jacket Feeding a Parrot, ca. 1663, oil on
copper, 22.5 x 17.3 cm, National Gallery, London, NG840 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris(1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:65, no. 54II, probably a second version
by the artist).
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2. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 21.7 x 16.2 cm (8 x 6 pouces), previously sale, ChoiseulPraslin, Paris, 18 February 1793, no. 68 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the
Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:66, no. 54a).

3. Circle of Frans van Mieris the Elder, A Lady with Her Parrot, oil on panel, 22.6 x 17.4 cm,
Royal Collection Trust, Buckingham Palace, London (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris(1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:66, no. 54b, fig. C 54b).

4. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 22.5 x 16.1 cm (8 ¾ x 6 ¼ duim), previously sale, Johanvan der Linden van Slingelandt, Dordrecht, 22 August 1785, no. 263 (Otto Naumann, Frans
van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:66, no. 54c).

5. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 20.6 x 15.4 cm (8 x 6 duim), previously anonymous sale,
Rotterdam, 6 June 1810, no. 12 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2
vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:66, no. 54d, possibly identical with no. II 54c).

6. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 22.5 x 17.5 cm, formerly Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, from1751, destroyed during World War II (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the
Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:66, no. 54e, fig. C 54e, as possibly by Frans van Mieris
the Elder).

7. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 21.5 x 17.8 cm, formerly Sir Francis Cook and Sir
Frederick Cook, Doughty House, Richmond (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681)
the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:67, no. 54f, fig. C 54f).

8. After Frans van Mieris, oil on copper, 22.9 x 17.8 cm (9 x 7 in), previously anonymous sale,
Christie’s, London, 23 April 1954, no. 38 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the
Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:67, no. 54g, fig. C 54g).

9. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 24.5 x 19.5 cm, previously sale, Albert Lehmann, Paris,
12 June 1925, no. 264 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder. 2 vols.
Doornspijk, 1981, 2:67, no. 54h).

10. After Frans van Mieris, materials and dimensions unknown, previously Shuvalov collection,
Leningrad, 1928 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols.
[Doornspijk, 1981], 2:67, no. 54i).

11. After Frans van Mieris, materials and dimensions unknown, previously anonymous sale,
London, 15 July 1949, no. 16 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2
vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:67, no. 54j).

12. After Frans van Mieris, materials and dimensions unknown, previously sale, Dr. Frank,
London, 25 June 1843 [12.12 pounds to Emery] (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris(1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:67, no. 54k).

13. After Frans van Mieris, materials and dimensions unknown, previously sale, Phillips, London,
28 February 1799, no. 41 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols.
[Doornspijk, 1981], 2:67, no. 54l).
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14. After Frans van Mieris, materials and dimensions unknown, previously sale, Catton, London,
11 March 1802, no. 76 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols.
[Doornspijk, 1981], 2:67, no. 54m).

15. After Frans van Mieris, materials and dimensions unknown, previously sale, Stockholm, 12
November 1968, no. 662 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols.
[Doornspijk, 1981], 2:67, no. 54n).

16. After Frans van Mieris, materials and dimensions unknown, previously sale, Edwards,
London, 25 May 1808, no. 54 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2
vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:68, no. 54o).

17. After Frans van Mieris, materials unknown, 6 ¾ x 8 ½ Zoll., Casino, Koblenz, 1864 (Otto
Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:68, no. 54p).

18. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 9 x 7 Zoll., Hohenzollern-Hechingen collection,
Löwenberg, 1864 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols.
[Doornspijk, 1981], 2:68, no. 54q).

19. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 23 x 19.5 cm, City Museum, Alès, no. 43 (Otto
Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:68, no. 54r).

20. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 36.8 x 29.2 cm, previously sale, Earl of Jersey, London,
15 July 1944, no. 16, as Ter Borch (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the
Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:68, no. 54s).

21. After Frans van Mieris, oil on copper, 57 x 48 cm, previously sale, Zurich, 26 November 1927,
no. 162 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981],
2:68, no. 54t).

22. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 22.9 x 23cm, previously sale, Sotheby’s, London, 17
June 1959, no 99 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols.
[Doornspijk, 1981], 2:68, no. 54u).

23. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 26 x 21 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Mulhouse, since1876 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981],
2:68, no. 54v).

24. After Frans van Mieris, oil on canvas, 30 x 25 cm, previously sale, Antwerp, 15 April 1884, no.
70 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:68,
no. 54w).

25. After Frans van Mieris, oil on copper, dimensions unknown, previously with E. Bolton,
London, 1926 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk,
1981], 2:68, no. 54x).

26. After Frans van Mieris, medium unknown, 17.6 x 13.5 cm, previously sale, Prince de Conti,
Paris, 8 April–6 June 1777, no. 410 (Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the
Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:65, no. II 54y).
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27. After Frans van Mieris, oil on panel, 27.5 x 21.5, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, no. 74.a6(Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. [Doornspijk, 1981], 2:68, no.
54z).

Drawings

1. Collection of Eduard von Liphart (sale, Boerner, Leipzig, 26 April 1898, no. 620).
2. Abraham Delfos (sale, L. van Oukerke, Haarlem, 19 May 1818, Kbk. E., no. 8).
3. J. F. Schiereeke (sales: Jan Gildemeester, Amsterdam, 24 July 1800, Kbk. N., no. 16; J. Gollvan Franckenstein, Amsterdam, 1 August 1833, no. 8; H. de Kat, Rotterdam, 4 March 1867,
no. 717).

Technical Summary
The support, a single plank of vertically grained, rectangular-shaped oak, has one bevel along theupper edge.[1] Shims toned black have been glued to all four sides, and the upper and lower
shims have been reinforced with brads.[2] A red wax collection seal with no recognizable
impression, ten red wax dots, and six paper labels are located along the panel reverse, but there
are no import stamps, inscriptions or panel maker’s marks.
A white-colored ground of medium thickness has been evenly applied. The paint has been appliedsmoothly in thin layers with low brushmarking of transparent glazing, with lighter more opaquetones and highlights ranging from creamy opaque lines to thin light scumbles.[3]The painting is unsigned and undated; however, an engraving by Ignaz Sebastian Klauber from1789 indicates the painting was formerly signed and dated “F.van Mieris fect Anno 1663”.[4]The painting was not examined with infrared. The X-radiograph reveals a compositional change inthe lower left corner where a draped cloth-like form was previously located where the parrot’s
post now stands.
The painting was cleaned and restored in 2009 and remains in a good state of preservation
despite areas of thinness through the brown background, parrot, and figure’s ribbon and hair.[5]Technical Summary Endnotes

1. The characterization of the wood is based on visual examination of the X-radiograph andpanel reverse images by Ian Tyers. According to Tyers, the panel has good potential for
dendrochronology but would require removal of two shims.
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Young Woman Feeding a Parrot
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2. The upper shim has been split by one of the brads and may have been previously removed,
perhaps for dendrochronology.
3. According to E. Melanie Gifford, research conservator, scientific research department,
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., quoted in 2011 examination report by Sarah Fisher,head of painting conservation, National Gallery of Art.
4. Ignaz Sebastian Klauber, after Frans van Mieris, Portrait of Frans van Mieris’s Wife (socalled), 1789, etching and engraving, 29.7 x 25.1 cm (plate from Tableaux, Statues, BasReliefs et Camées, de la Galerie de Florence et du Palais Pitti, vol. 2 (Paris: L.J. Masquelier,1792). See Versions.
5. Entry based on 2011 examination report by Sarah Fisher, head of painting conservation,
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

© 2020 The Leiden Collection