A Newly Discovered Drawing by Frans van Mieris the Elder

Naumann examines a newly discovered drawing by Frans van Mieris the Elder. Van Mieris the Elder created the occasional compositional study, as well as a more substantial number of studies of individual figures and heads for paintings. Moreover, he produced at least a dozen fully worked and polished drawings, almost certainly intended for sale. The principal inspiration for this article is to publish for the first time a newly discovered drawing by Frans van Mieris that fits into this group of quick compositional studies. At merely 115 mm high, this small, double-sided drawing seems to have been overlooked at a minor auction in Munich in 2014 and is now in a private collection in Amsterdam (Fig. 9).11 Despite its small format, the sheet is signed in full by the artist at upper left, and dated 1670 at upper right. It clearly shows the artist's first musings for a very attractive genre painting. In a spacious interior a woman prepares her toilette with the assistance of her maidservant who helps to tie or untie her bodice. The woman of the house looks at herself in a mirror on the wall at the left, and on the right there is a bed or fireplace behind a small table with chairs. Finally, the family dog sits patiently in the lower left corner. The newly discovered drawing must have been intended as preparatory for a painting.