Jan van Mieris (1660 - 1690). Jan van Mieris was a Dutch painter born in Leiden, the eldest son of Frans van Mieris the Elder and Cunera van der Cocq. His siblings were Frans II, Christina and Willem Mieris, who was also a painter. After a short apprenticeship in his father's atelier, he was meant to be educated in history paintings with Gerard de Lairesse. Still, his father refrained from doing so due to Lairesse's unscrupulous lifestyle. It is also reported that Jan van Mieris suffered from kidney stones which impeded his progress in his studies In 1684 Jan van Mieris was mentioned as a witness at the wedding of his brother Willem van Mieris, at that stage, he lived at the Blommemark in Leiden. Afterwards, on June 14, 1686, he paid his entry fee for the Leiden Guild of st. Luke in Leiden. Jan van Mieris paid 3 guilders, half of the regular entry price, because he was the son of a master. The work of Jan van Mieris was loved by collectors with great names, amongst them the De la Court family from Leiden. The archive of the Leiden Remonstrant Church shows that Jan lived with his mother on the Oude Vest for a short period. In the same year, he must have moved to Italy, as on January 14 of 1689, he wrote a letter to his mother from Venice. From this letter, it is concluded that he was healthy. However, he didn't sell any paintings and therefore had plans to continue his travels to Florence. He was invited to the court of Cosimo III de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, by friends of his father, but because of religious grounds, he was sent off He then proceeded to Rome, where his abilities were already well known. In that city, Jan found himself in the company of a group of young painters with a bad reputation, probably the so-called Bentvueghels, and his condition worsened, but he continued to work for as long as he could. On March 17, 1690, he died in Rome at 30. An account of Jan's last days has been published by the painter Erasmus Causse, who also describes Jan's funeral outside the city gate of Rome. More than 40 works by Jan van Mieris are known, including one he painted in Rome, dated 1690. However, his oeuvre doesn't entail more than 30 paintings and one drawing Frans van Mieris the Elder Frans van Mieris was the head of the van Mieris family, which determined the face of Leiden's Paintings for decades, and was married to Cunera van der Coq, Jan van Mieris's mother. Jan van Mieris was the oldest son of Frans van Mieris the Elder and learned painting from him early on. Jan van Mieris never fully gained the attention of his father and seemed to be chasing after him for most of his life due to his early passing Willem van Mieris Willem van Mieris was Jan van Mieris's brother. He was born three years after Jan and took to painting, in contrast to their sister Christina van Mieris. As a result, Jan and Willem van Mieris were sometimes known as The Van Mieris Brothers. Frans van Mieris the Younger Frans van Mieris the younger was the son of Willem van Mieris and in turn the nephew of Jan van Mieris. Frans the younger also took to painting and even ended up painting a number of the alleged self-portraits of Jan, Frans the older, and Willem De la Court Family In the 17th century, the relationship between patrons and artists had become exceedingly large. Since the head of the van Mieris family had built up a prestigious reputation, his entire family and his direct descendants were guaranteed positions in the city, resulting in a steady flow of commissions from affluent citizens. The De La Court family had an especially tightly knit relationship with the Van Mieris family. This is evidenced by the fact that the majority of Jan van Mieris' work came from three passionate collectors of this family: Petronella Oortmans-De la Court, her much younger cousin Pieter de la Court van der Voort from Leiden, and his son Allard. Petronella's collection was sold in 1707, she possessed three genre paintings, three history paintings, a self-portrait, and a landscape, with prices varying between 265 and 32 guilders. Johan Augidiuszn The Leiden burgomaster Johan Augidiuszn. Van der Marck, a collector of many portraits, possessed two drawn self-portraits and one painted one by Jan van Mieris; Van Gool reported the latter. At the end of the 18th c and the beginning of the 19th, even more portraits were for sale, making it difficult to judge how many there were. Grand Duke of Tuscany Frans van Mieris the Elder had connections with the Court Medici family. He had previously made a commissioned painting for Cosimo III de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, for the Galleria Vasariana. Therefore, this led Frans van Mieris to be later invited to the Court by his father's friends but he was sent off for religious reasons.