Background
Van Mierevelt was born and died in Delft, as a son of a goldsmith, who apprenticed him to the copperplate engraver Hieronymus Wierix.
Van Mierevelt was born and died in Delft, as a son of a goldsmith, who apprenticed him to the copperplate engraver Hieronymus Wierix.
And the surname also spelled Miereveld or Miereveldt, (Dutch pronunciation:. 1 May 1566 – 27 June 1641) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and draftsman. Today over 500 paintings are or have been attributed to him.
The works that can with certainty be ascribed to his own brush are remarkable for their sincerity, severe drawing and harmonious color, but comparatively few of the two thousand or more portraits that bear his name are wholly his own handiwork.
So great was his reputation that he was patronized by royalty in many countries and acquired great wealth. The king of Sweden and the count palatine of Neuburg presented him with golden chains.
Albert VII, Archduke of Austria, at whose court he lived in Delft, gave him a pension. And Charles I vainly endeavoured to induce him to visit the English court.
Though Mierevelt is chiefly known as a portrait painter, he also executed some mythological pieces of minor importance.
Many of his portraits have been reproduced in line by the leading Dutch engravers of his time. He died at Delft. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has the richest collection of Mierevelt"s works, chief of them being the portraits of William, Philip William, Maurice, and Frederick Henry of Orange, and of the count palatine Frederick V. At the Mauritshuis in The Hague are the portraits of four princes of the house of Orange, of Frederick V as king of Bohemia, and of Louise de Coligny as a widow. Other portraits by him are at nearly all the leading continental galleries, notably at Brunswick (3), Gotha (2), Schwerin (3), Munich (2), Paris (Louvre, 3), Dresden (4), Berlin (2), and Darmstadt (3).
The town hall of Delft also has numerous examples of his work.
Many of his pupils and assistants rose to fame. The most gifted of them were Paulus Moreelse, January Antonisz. van Ravesteyn, Daniel Mijtens, Anthonie Palamedesz, Johan van Nes, and Hendrick Cornelisz. van Vliet.
His portrait was painted by Anthony van Dyck and engraved by Jacob Delff. Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt"s works.
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He registered as a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in The Hague in 1625.