838. THE DUET.
Gabriel Metsu (Dutch: 1630-1667).
Metsu is one of the genre painters who are now appraised most highly—sums of £2580 and £3200 severally were given at the Secrétan Sale for pictures of his. In the Hertford House Gallery are some good specimens which the late Sir Richard Wallace acquired at great cost. Though, like most of his brother-artists, he was fond of painting tavern-scenes (e.g. No. 970), he was also a painter of high life and the drawing-room, like Terburg and Netscher. "In each of these spheres he combined humour with expression, a keen appreciation of nature with feeling, and breadth with delicacy of touch, in a manner unsurpassed by any of his contemporaries" (Crowe). "When his pictures have escaped the ordeal of ruthless cleaning they are pervaded by the finest tone, and the whites in them have that delicate glow which distance and atmosphere lend to snowy peaks. It is obvious that he caressed this least manageable of colours with unceasing love. Altogether his works have a quality of distinction rare in those of any school" (Burton). Metsu's father was a painter, whose third wife (the mother of Gabriel) was a painter's widow. The boy was taught by Gerard Dou, and already at the age of fourteen was admitted a member of the Leyden Guild of Painters. In 1650 he removed to Amsterdam, where he fell under the influence of Rembrandt. The large picture in the Louvre of "The Woman taken in Adultery," signed by Metsu and dated 1653, shows this fact. Metsu did not, however, adhere to religious subjects, but applied the lessons he learnt from the great master to subjects more congenial to his talent.
839. THE MUSIC LESSON.
Gabriel Metsu (Dutch: 1630-1667).
A picture that might serve as an illustration of "the gamut of Hortensio" (see Taming of the Shrew, Act. iii. sc. 1).
840. A LADY FEEDING A PARROT.
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.