Young Woman Feeding a Parrot

1663

Frans van Mieris(Leiden 1635 – 1681 Leiden)

oil on panel
22.4 x 17.7 cm
formerly signed and dated: “F.van Mieris fect
Anno 1663”
FM-112Currently on view at: The National Gallery of Art,
Washington D.C.
© 2017 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
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How To Cite
Buvelot, Quentin. "Young Woman Feeding a Parrot." In The Leiden Collection Catalogue. Edited by Arthur
K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017.
https://www.theleidencollection.com/archive/.
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© 2017 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
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Frans van Mieris’s fame derives from his interior genre scenes depicting[1]

the 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 this stunning painting, he also portrayed single figures relaxing within
their domestic spheres. Here, within this darkened room,[2] a richly
dressed young woman with a fashionable hairstyle has just interrupted herneedlework—a needle 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 finewooden 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

Fig 1. “Maeghde-Wapen,”engraving from Jacob Cats,
Houwelyck (Haarlem, 1642), with
“Leer-sucht” (eagerness to learn)
depicted by the woman at the leftor marital chastity. The parrot has also been interpreted as a symbol ofeloquence and eagerness to learn, because the brightly colored bird canbe tamed and taught to mimic speech.[5] This, in any case, is thecreature’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 an embroidery frame and a squawking parrot on her hand (fig 1).[6]The needlework of the woman in Van Mieris’s painting, which can beconstrued as an allusion to industry and virtue, similarly underscores theparrot’s symbolic meaning. The bird probably denotes the good upbringing
of the woman, who bears a striking resemblance to the painter’s wife,
Cunera van der Cock (see FM-107).[7] A similar interpretation may be
applied to other works that include this motif, such as the painting by
Gabriel Metsu discussed below, in which a woman is shown still working

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

on her needlework with 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 totouch the painting and feel the fabric of the woman’s expensive clothes
made of shimmering satin, velvet and fur. The sheen of light on the redvelvet is handled 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 paint of the woman’s face is so finely blended that the artist’s
brushstrokes remain invisible to the eye. In order to produce such a refinedFig 3. Gabriel Metsu, Woman
Sewing, with a Parrot, after 1663,© 2017 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
Page 4 of 17

painting, Van Mieris must have applied layer after layer, in both theunderpainting and in the final paint.[8]oil on panel, 35 x 27 cm, Pushkin
State Museum of Fine Arts,
Moscow, 693

The painting was formerly signed in full and dated “1663,” but thesignature and date disappeared during a cleaning in 2009, a notuncommon phenomenon with Van Mieris’s paintings.[9] An unsigned workin London (fig 2), painted on a copperplate and of slightly lesser quality,
has traditionally been regarded as an autograph replica of this panel
painting.[10] After the two works were shown side by side in an exhibition at
the National Gallery in London in 2010, however, subtle differences werenoted in the way textures of materials were rendered, which seems toindicate that the London version was made by another painter working in
Van Mieris’s studio.[11] Little is known about how his studio was actuallyorganized, so even the very question of whether Van Mieris madeautograph replicas remains unresolved.[12]The London painting and more than two dozen copies made afterYoung
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 he translated Van Mieris’s painting technique into
his own visual vocabulary.[16]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 admirationin 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© 2017 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
Page 5 of 17

and less as an artistic virtue; on the contrary, it was considered a
reprehensible “trick,” certainly after the advent of photography. With thisshift, art was viewed and valued 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
in appreciation 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 thework at auction in 1975, the painting became part of the collection of Lord
Harold Samuel (1912–87), who eventually bequeathed most of hiscollection to the City of London to be placed in Mansion House.[20] Only afew paintings, including the present one, were not part of thisbequest.[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 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
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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 secolod’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 of Art) (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 E. 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, ed., 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, ed.,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,
ed., Frans van Mieris 1635–1681 (Exh. cat. The Hague, Mauritshuis; Washington D.C.,© 2017 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
Page 7 of 17

National Gallery of Art) (New Haven, 2005), 163, with the paintings reproduced next to eachother, full page, on 164–65.
11. Marjorie Wieseman, “A Woman in a Red Jacket Feeding a Parrot,” inClose 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,
ed. Quentin Buvelot (Exh. cat. The Hague, Mauritshuis; Washington D.C., National Gallery ofArt) (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
the same subject, however this time with a woman feeding a parrot in a landscape(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. no. SK-A-458; see Eric Jan Sluijter, 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 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 the© 2017 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
Page 8 of 17

data given in the provenance section.
18. See Quentin Buvelot, ed., 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 P. 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
1942 and 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 descentto Lady 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© 2017 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
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Voluntary Services,” 8 October–7 November 1942, no. 34.
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 ofArt, 22 October–21 January 2018 [lent by the present owner].

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Versions
Engraved
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.
© 2017 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
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Masquelier, 1792]).

2. Johann Nepomuk Strixner, after Frans van Mieris, Lady Feeding a Parrot, ca. 1819,
lithograph, 30 x 25 cm (plate from Königlich-Baierischer Gemälde Saal zu München undSchleissheim: Eine Sammlung ausgezeichneter Gemälde der Pinacothek in München , 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 München: Eine Stahlstichsammlung dervorzüglichsten Gemälde der Königl. 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 Künste, 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).

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)© 2017 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
Page 14 of 17

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).

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).
© 2017 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
Page 15 of 17

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).

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.
Goll van Franckenstein, Amsterdam, 1 August 1833, no. 8; H. de Kat, Rotterdam, 4 March
1867, no. 717).

Versions Notes

Technical Summary© 2017 The Leiden CollectionYoung Woman Feeding a Parrot
Page 16 of 17

The support, a single plank of vertically grained, rectangular-shaped oak, has one bevel along
the upper 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
applied smoothly in thin layers with low brushmarking of transparent glazing, with lighter moreopaque tones and highlights ranging from creamy opaque lines to thin light scumbles.
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
in the 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.
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.

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