Woman Standing before a Mirror

17th century

Frans van Mieris the Elder (studio copy?)

Oil on panel
31.8 x 24.5 cm
faint illegible letters in light paint, upper rightcorner
FM-121© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Woman Standing before a Mirror
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How To Cite
Buvelot, Quentin. "Woman Standing before a Mirror." In The Leiden Collection Catalogue. Edited by Arthur
K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017.
https://www.theleidencollection.com/archive/.
This page is available on the site's Archive. PDF of every version of this page is available on the Archive,
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© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Woman Standing before a Mirror
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A good gauge of the popularity of Frans Van Mieris’s painted oeuvre is theComparative Figureslarge number of copies, the oldest of which must have been made during
his lifetime.[1] Nevertheless, little information exists about Van Mieris’sworkshop; it is not even known if the master made replicas of his ownpaintings. Copies and variants of Van Mieris’s paintings, however, werecertainly made after his death for Leiden collectors, a number of whichcame from the hand of his son, Willem (1662–1747). Some of Van Mieris’spaintings were particularly popular and frequently copied; for example,
around thirty copies are known of The Oyster Meal from 1661
(Mauritshuis, The Hague).[2] A Woman before a Mirror, now in Berlin (fig1), was also frequently copied, as was this Leiden Collection painting.[3] At
least twenty other copies after the Berlin picture are recorded,[4] making it
virtually impossible to establish their individual provenances. This copy isalmost identical to the Berlin original, the most conspicuous difference

Fig 1. Frans van Mieris the Elder,
A Woman before a Mirror, ca.
1662, oil on panel, 30 x 23 cm,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin,
Gemäldegalerie, 838

being the blue ribbon on the red jacket draped over the chair.
It is difficult to determine whether the present picture was made in thestudio of Frans van Mieris, although dendrochronological analysis
indicates that the panel does date from the seventeenth century.[5] Not
surprisingly, a number of later copies were made with fraudulent intent.
The well-known collector and fabulously wealthy cloth merchant Pieter dela Court van der Voort (1664–1739), a great patron of Willem van Mieris,
wrote to his wife on 8 August 1700 from Paris that on some of Willem’s
paintings, the first name had been replaced by “Frans” or simply
overpainted to create the impression that the works were by his father.[6]Frans van Mieris the Elder had been dead for almost twenty years by then,but he was evidently still an international celebrity.
The theme of a young woman making her toilette appears relatively often
in Frans van Mieris’s paintings.[7] The concentration with which the young
woman stands before a mirror while holding a piece of jewelry to her neckmakes it clear that she is putting the last touches to her attire. Her darkskinned maidservant, whose face Van Mieris prepared meticulously in adrawn study for the original painting,[8] holds up a jewelry box and waits
curiously to see which piece her mistress will decide to wear. To the right,through a doorway, one sees a man reading at a table.
In the context of a woman making her toilette, a mirror can be associatedwith vanity or sensual pleasure.[9] That the woman uses the mirror here to© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Woman Standing before a Mirror
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adorn herself with jewelry seems to confirm this meaning. The opened
letter on a corner of the table is without doubt a love letter—evidence ofher interest in the sensual pleasures.[10] In contrast to the woman’sconcern with appearances, the man reading represents the opposite
attitude: the life of the mind and a desire to acquire knowledge andwisdom.
-Quentin Buvelot© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Woman Standing before a Mirror
Page 5 of 8Endnotes
1. For lists of copies, see Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder , 2 vols.
(Doornspijk, 1981), vol. 2; and Eric-Jan Sluijter, Leidse Fijnschilders: Van Gerrit Dou tot
Frans van Mieris de Jonge, 1630–1760 (Exh. cat. Leiden, Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal)(Leiden, 1988), 35–36.
2. Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder , 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981),
2:44–48, nos. 36a–cc.
3. Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder , 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981),
2:56–59, no. 46; see also P. van der Ploeg in Frans van Mieris 1635–1681, ed. Quentin
Buvelot (Exh. cat. The Hague, Mauritshuis; Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art)
(Zwolle, 2005), 157–59, no. 31, repr. Otto Naumann also thinks that the present painting is acopy (correspondence with the author, 10 August 2012).
4. Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder , 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981),
2:56–59, nos. 46a–u.
5. On the basis of dendrochronological research executed by Peter Klein in 2012, the panel
was dated after 1618 (letter of Peter Klein, dated 17 July 2012, kept in the Leiden Collectionarchives).
6. Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder , 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 1:193,207–10; T. H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, ed., Het Rapenburg: Geschiedenis van een Leidsegracht, 10 vols. (Leiden, 1986–92), 2:388; 6a:358–59, and figs. 55–56;E. J. Sluijter, “Eenstuck waerin een jufr. voor de spiegel van Gerrit Douw,” Antiek 23 (1988): 35–36.
7. Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder , 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 2: nos.
32, 51, 69, 76, 114.
8. Otto Naumann, “Frans van Mieris as a Draughtsman,” Master Drawings 16, no. 1 (1978):27, no. 11; Quentin Buvelot, ed., Frans van Mieris 1635–1681 (Exh. cat. The Hague,Mauritshuis; Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art) (Zwolle, 2005), 157, fig. 31a.
9. For the symbolism of mirrors, see E. de Jongh,Zinne- en minnebeelden in de schilderkunst
van de zeventiende eeuw (Amsterdam, 1967), 76–78; E. de Jongh et al., Tot lering envermaak: Betekenissen van Hollandse genrevoorstellingen uit de zeventiende eeuw (Exh.
cat. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) (Amsterdam, 1976), no. 47; E. J. Sluijter, “Een stuck waerin
een jufr. voor de spiegel van Gerrit Douw,” Antiek 23 (1988): 150–61.
10. Otto Naumann, Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder, 2 vols. (Doornspijk, 1981), 1:69.

Provenance© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Woman Standing before a Mirror
Page 6 of 8Count Ferdinand von Plettenberg, Amsterdam (his sale, Amsterdam, 2 April 1738, no. 57[for 800 florins])
E. van Dishoek, The Hague (his sale, 9 June 1745, no. 35 [1,300 florins; to Wilhelm VIII ofHessen Cassel for 1,300 florins]).
Wilhelm VIII of Hessen Cassel [probably Marquis Voyer d’Argenson, Paris]; (sale, deMontribloud, Paris [Paillet, Julliot & Fils], 9 February 1784, no. 30 [2,501 francs to Paillet];sale, Du Preuil, Paris, 25 November 1811, no. 113 [for 250 francs to Hesse]; sale, Lebrun,Paris, 2 February 1813, no. 239 [to Henri for 240 francs]).
P. J. F. Vrancken, Lokeren (sale, Antwerp, 15 May 1838, no. 43 [for 630 florins to De Lelie,Amsterdam]).
Van Saceghem collection, Ghent, 1842 (sale, Brussels, 2 June 1851, no. 36 [to Tencé, Lille,for 27,200 francs; to Patureau]).
Th. Patureau, Paris (sale, Paris, 20 April 1857, no. 14 [to Etienne le Roy for 19,700 francs]).
H. J. Pfungst, London.
J. van Alen, Rushton Hall, Kettering, 1904, and New York, 1928, no. 47; (his sale, Marg. L.
van Alen Bruguiere et al., Christie’s, London, 5 December 1969, no. 79 [as acquired fromPfungst in 1904]).
Galleria Giorgio Caretto, Turin.
Private collection, Turin, before 1976
(Sale, Finarte Casa D’aste, Rome, 14 November 2006, no. 27)
From whom purchased by the present owner.

Exhibition History
London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, “Dutch Exhibition,” 30 March–10 May 1904, no. 273 (lentby Van Alen, as by Frans van Mieris).
Turin, Galleria Giorgio Caretto, “Mostra di scene di genere: Opere di maestri olandesi efiamminghi del XVII secolo,” 27 October–20 November 1970, no. 40.

References
Hoet, Gerard. Catalogus of Naamlyst van Schilderyen, met derzelver pryzen, zedert een© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Woman Standing before a Mirror
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langen reeks van jaaren zoo. 3 vols. The Hague, 1752–70, 1:499, no. 57; 2:171, no. 35.
Descamps, Jean-Baptist. La vie des peintres flamands, allemands et hollandais . 4 vols.
Paris, 1753–64, 3:20.
Blanc, Charles. Le trésor de la curiosité tiré des catalogues de vente de tableaux, dessins,estampes, livres. 2 vols. Paris, 1857–58, 2:526–27.
Smith, John. Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish andFrench Painters. 9 vols. London 1829–42, 1:64, no. 7; suppl. 1842, nos. 28 and 37.
Kramm, Christiaan. De levens en werken der Hollandsche en Vlaamsche Kunstschilders,Beeldhouwers, Graveurs en Bouwmeesters van den vroegsten tot op onzen tijd . 6 vols.
Amsterdam, 1857–64, 4:1125, 1126.
Siret, Adolphe. Dictionnaire historique des peintres de toutes les écoles. Paris, 1883, 55.
Lemcke, Carl. “Frans van Mieris.” In Kunst und Künstler: Deutschlands under Niederlände
bis um die Mitte des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts. Edited by Robert Dohme, 2:22. 8 vols.
Leipzig, 1877–86.
Eisenmann, Oscar. Katalog der Königlichen Gemälde-Galerie zu Cassel. Kassel, 1888, LI.
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 . 8 vols.
London, 1907–27. Translated from Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke
der hervorragendsten höllandischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts . 10 vols. Esslingen andParis, 1907–28, 10:23, no. 81.
Mireur, Hippolyte. Dictionnaire des ventes d’art faites en France et à l’étranger pendant lesXVIIIe et XIXe siècles. 7 vols. Paris, 1911–12, 5:187.
Bénézit, Emmanuel. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs,dessinateurs, et graveurs de tous les pays, part un groupe d’écrivains specialistes françaiset étrangers. 8 vols. Paris, 1948–55, 6:117.
Plietzsch, Eduard. Holländische und flämische Maler des XVII. Jahrh. Leipzig, 1960, 52.
Reitlinger, Gerald. The Economics of Taste: The Rise and Fall of Picture Prices,1760–1960. London, 1961, 388.
Naumann, Otto. “Frans van Mieris as a Draughtsman.” Master Drawings 16, no. 1 (1978):21 n. 27.
Naumann, Otto. Frans van Mieris (1635–1681) the Elder . 2 vols. Doornspijk, 1981, 2:56, no.
46a, fig. C 46a.
Van der Aa, 12, pt. II, n.d., p. 849 (bt. By Le Roy at Patureau sale; Saceghem sale).
(Possibly Van der Aa, Pieter. Les delices de Leide. Leiden, 1712. On microfilm at the Frick).
Buvelot, Quentin. “Recenze/Reviews: Anja K. Ševčik (ed.), National Gallery in Prague:
Dutch Paintings of the 17th and 18th Centuries, Illustrated Summary Catalogue. ” Umění Art
60, no. 6 (2012): 532.
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Technical Summary
The support, a single plank of vertically grained, rectangular-shaped oak from the western
Germany-Netherlands regions, is derived from a tree felled after 1608 and has a plausible
creation date from 1618 onward.[1] The unthinned and uncradled panel has bevels on all foursides and two small rectangular wood inserts along the left vertical edge. A red wax collection
seal with a partial impression and an old paper label remnant with an ink inscription from Dr.
Bredius dated 1893 are located along the panel reverse, but there are no import stamps, panel
maker’s marks or machine tool marks.
A light-colored (possibly gray) ground has been thinly and evenly applied followed by paintapplied in thin layers of smooth transparent glazing through the background and with areas oflow brushmarking through the female figure’s white blouse, vermilion cape and the chair overwhich the cape is draped.
There are remnants of letters in light paint along the upper right corner, but there is no
discernible signature or date.
No underdrawing or compositional changes are readily apparent in infrared images captured at780–1000 nanometers.
The painting, which was cleaned and restored in 2007 and revarnished in 2010, remains in agood state of preservation.

Technical Summary Endnotes

1. The characterization of the wood is based on Peter Klein’s (undated) dendrochronology
report.

© 2017 The Leiden Collection