Friday, February 8, 2019

Michiel van Mierevelt (1566-1641) - Delft Portraitist

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of an old man with a shell
ca. 1606
oil on panel
Royal Collection, Great Britain

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of Dudley Carleton, Viscount Dorchester
ca. 1620
oil on panel
National Portrait Gallery, London

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia (The Winter Queen)
ca. 1623
oil on panel
National Portrait Gallery, London

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
1623
oil on panel
National Trust, Ashdown House, Berkshire

"Michiel van Mierevelt's life roughly spans the Eighty Years War between Spain and the Low Countries.  The city of Delft benefited from its proximity to the government headquarters of the Republic in The Hague.  Moreover, when Stadholder William of Orange moved to Delft's Prinsenhof in 1582, Delft also became one of the court's residences.  In addition, the increasing wealth of the middle classes afforded great opportunities for a portrait specialist and from 1590 van Mierevelt, the son of a goldsmith, devoted himself entirely to the art of portraiture.  Joachim van Sandrart wrote that van Mierevelt "himself thought that he had produced some ten thousand likenesses."  Today's estimate reduces this to a still-impressive five thousand (of which some 629 survive), all showing a consistent quality in the careful reproduction of faces and the exquisite rendering of costumes and fabrics.  Such quality and the high production rate of the studio could not have been achieved without standardised working methods and an efficiently run business.  . . .  In Van Mierevelt's entire oeuvre facial measurements and proportions were consistent, so much so that it appears that he used a prototype for both male and female faces, although he would adjust this prototype for each client in such a way that the portrait bore a good resemblance.  . . .  Three times Van Mierevelt rejected prestigious offers to become court painter, twice by English rulers (Prince Henry and Charles I), but he was not going to abandon financial stability for an uncertain career in a foreign country."
  
– from an essay by Maaike Dirkx published on Rembrandt's Room (2013)

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of a Lady
ca. 1625
oil on panel
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of a Gentleman
1625
oil on panel
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of a Lady
1628
oil on panel
Wallace Collection, London

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of Horace Vere, Baron Vere of Tilbury
1629
oil on panel
National Portrait Gallery, London

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of Edward Cecil, Viscount Wimbledon
1631
oil on panel
National Portrait Gallery, London

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of Jacob Cats
1634
oil on panel
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of François van Aerssen
ca. 1636
oil on panel
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of Aegje Hasselaer
1640
oil on panel
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of Henrick Hooft
1640
oil on panel
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Michiel  van Mierevelt
Portrait of a Lady
before 1641
oil on panel
private collection