Frans van Mieris the Elder, 'A Woman in a Red Jacket feeding a Parrot', about 1663
About the work
Overview
A young woman sits, one delicate hand outstretched and holding an almond to feed to a parrot. On one finger she has a thimble – she has stopped sewing to feed the bird, an African Grey that hunches over, assessing her gift with a beady eye. The model used for the young woman is thought to be Cunera van de Cock, who married Frans van Mieris in 1657.
Van Mieris was one of the most successful genre and portrait painters in the Dutch Republic at the time. This tiny, exquisite painting was one of the most successful he ever produced, being copied many times. The work is on copper, which makes his brushstrokes virtually invisible and allows him to achieve subtlety and realism in his portrayal of textures, from the rich fabrics of the young woman’s costume down to the detail of the braid on the back of her chair.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Woman in a Red Jacket feeding a Parrot
- Artist
- Frans van Mieris the Elder
- Artist dates
- 1635 - 1681
- Date made
- about 1663
- Medium and support
- oil on copper
- Dimensions
- 22.5 × 17.3 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1871
- Inventory number
- NG840
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 17th-century Dutch Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2010Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and DiscoveriesThe National Gallery (London)30 June 2010 - 12 September 2010
Bibliography
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1769P. Remy, Catalogue raisonné de tableaux, groupes et figures de bronze: Qui composent le cabinet de feu Monsieur Gaignat, Paris, 14 February 1769 - 22 February 1769
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1793Paillet, Catalogue des tableaux précieux des écoles d'Italie, de Flandres, de Hollande et de France; figures & bustes… le tout provenant du cabinet de feu M. Choiseul-Praslin, Paris, 18 February 1793 - 25 February 1793
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1822J. Christie, Magnificent Effects at Fonthill Abbey, London, 8 October 1822 - 17 October 1822
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1823Phillips, The Valuable Library of Books at Fonthill Abbey, London, 9 September 1823 - 31 October 1823
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1824W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting: With a Chronological History of the Importation of Pictures by the Great Masters into England Since the French Revolution, London 1824
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1824P.G. Patmore, British Galleries of Art, London 1824
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1830
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
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1844A.M. Jameson, Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London: Containing Accurate Catalogues, Arranged Alphabetically, for Immediate Reference, Each Preceded by an Historical & Critical Introduction […], London 1844
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1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
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1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
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1983C. Brown, 'Rubens' Watering Place: An Examination of His Landscape Technique', Ringling Museum of Art Journal, 1983, pp. 130-49
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1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
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1991F. Herrmann, 'Peel and Solly: Two Nineteenth-Century Art Collectors and Their Sources of Supply', Journal of the History of Collections, III/1, 1991, pp. 89-96
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1993W.E. Franits, Paragons of Virtue: Women and Domesticity in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art, Cambridge 1993
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2005Q. Buvelot et al., Frans van Mieris 1635-1681: Painted Perfection (exh. cat. Mauritshuis, 1 October 2005 - 22 January 2006; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 26 February - 21 May 2006), The Hague 2005
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
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