_Frans van Mieris_ (Dutch: 1635-1681).
This painter, the son of a goldsmith (one of twenty-three
children) and the pupil of Gerard Dou, is known as "Old Frans,"
to distinguish him from his grandson of that name, who, like
his son William (see 841), was also a painter. The works of
Frans are very much superior to those of his successors.
"Unlike William Mieris, he rarely cared to carry the eye from
the beautiful painting of the figures by working up or covering
the base of the casement with highly finished bas-reliefs. That
kind of thing may be looked for in William Mieris's curiously
finished pictures, but certainly is not wanted in the works
of Francis. His female figures, independently of being always
well painted, are often graceful and pretty; he could paint a
lady at her toilet with the delicacy and feeling of Metsu and
Terburg, and was besides happy in varying the expressions and
faces of his female beauties; he was fond of painting them in
richly coloured jackets trimmed with fur. He was also a capital
hand at painting birds" (Seguier). The elegance and high
technical qualities of his productions brought him numerous and
distinguished patrons. The Grand Duke of Tuscany visited him at
Leyden, and the Archduke Leopold William desired to attract him
to Vienna. Mieris, however, would not leave Leyden; nor did his
large and lucrative practice induce any carelessness or neglect
in his work.