# Woman before the Mirror [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MIERIS, Frans van, the Elder]() - Date: 1651-1700 - Technique: Oil on wood, 42,9 x 31,6 cm ## Commentary Woman before the Mirror c. 1670 Oil on wood, 42,9 x 31,6 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich Gerrit Dou called Frans van Mieris 'the Prince of my pupils'. Van Mieris was the son of a Leiden goldsmith and, like Dou himself, had been trained in the studio of a glass-painter before entering that of a painter. Van Mieris mastered Dou's highly finished technique and after his master's death was the leading exponent of the fijnschilder \(fine painter\) style. He spent his entire working life in Leiden, although \(once again like Dou\) he enjoyed a considerable international reputation: he received commissions from, among others, Duke Cosimo III de'Medici and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, who unsuccessfully offered van Mieris the position of court painter in Vienna. This painting shows the traditional subject of a woman admiring herself in a mirror: in the work of Hieronymous Bosch, for example, it was a symbol of the sin of superbia \(pride\) but by the time it was painted by Gerard ter Borch and van Mieris it simply provided an opportunity for the painter to display his skill in rendering reflections and rich materials. Van Mieris highlights the shimmering satin dress and brightly coloured feather within the dark interior, encouraging the viewer to admire his craftsmanship and virtuosity. Despite his success van Mieris was constantly in debt and contemporary documents appear to support the accounts of an early biographer, Arnold Houbraken, who described him as a habitual drunkard. He was, however, well respected in Leiden and established a dynasty of painters: his sons, Willem and Jan, and his grandson, Frans van Mieris the Younger, imitated his meticulous style and continued to work in his manner until the 1760s. ## Related artworks - [A Meal of Oysters]() - [Boy Blowing Bubbles]() - [Brothel Scene]() - [Carousing Couple]() - [Duet]() - [Musical Company]() - [Oyster Eaters]() - [Pictura \(An Allegory of Painting\)]() - [Portrait of a Young Man]() - [The Cloth Shop]() - [The Lacemaker]() - [The Music Lesson]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()