Willem van Mieris Leiden 1662 - 1747

Abraham du Pré and Petronella Oortmans-De la Court (1624-1707);
Their sale, Amsterdam, 19 May 1729, lot 8, for 73 florins;
Baron von Schönborn;
His sale, Amsterdam, Hol. van der Land, 16 April 1738, lot 79, for 175 florins;
D. Ietswaart, his sale, Amsterdam, Beukelaar van der Land, 22 April 1749, lot 74, for 80 florins to Lubbeling;
Lubbeling Collection, Amsterdam, 1752;
H. Wannaar, his deceased's sale, Amsterdam, De Leth, 17 May 1757, lot 19;
J. van der H..., his sale, Soeterwou (near Leiden), Delfos/De Bruyn 11 September 1776, lot 6;
Cardinal Joseph Fesch, Archbishop of Lyon (1763 - 1839);
His deceased's sale, Rome, George, 17 March 1845, lot 150, for 375 scudi;
With Edward Speelman, London;
From whom acquired by the late father of the present owners in 1961.

C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes unk kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke…, vol. X, Stuttgart and Paris 1928, p. 184, no. 298.

This arcadian landscape by Willem van Mieris is dated 1682, the year after the death of his father (and master) Frans van Mieris the Elder, and the earliest year from which dated works by the young artist are known.

Both in style and subject matter the picture is entirely consistent with the artist's early output, which assimilates the technique of his father and consists chiefly of history painting, subjects from classical and Renaissance literature and pastoral themes. The picture surface, which is in a remarkable state of preservation, is rendered with a smooth, enamel-like finish, each individual brushstroke imperceptible to the viewer. The combination of a strong, luminous light and a virtuoso attention to detail defines the forms and differing textures within the scene with a level of verosimilitude for which the Leiden fijnschilders were so admired during their lifetime as also today.

The distinguished provenance of the picture stretches back to Petronella Oortmans-De la Court (1624 - 1707) who was one of Van Mieris' principal patrons. Her nephew, Pieter de la Court van der Voort (1664 - 1739), a wealthy cloth merchant from Leiden, was also a key patron for the artist, commissioning both individual works as well as copies after his father's work.