A Woman in a Red Jacket feeding a Parrot
- Artist: Frans van Mieris the Elder
- Date: about 1663
- Medium: oil on copper
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is "A Woman in a Red Jacket feeding a Parrot" painted by Frans van Mieris the Elder. We're looking at one of his most successful works, created around 1663. It's a masterpiece of subtlety and realism, thanks to its execution on copper. You see how virtually invisible Van Mieris' brushstrokes are? That's because the copper surface allows him to achieve incredible texture and detail.
The young woman is dressed in sumptuous clothes – a cream satin skirt with a rose-pink velvet jacket edged with white fur. Her fair hair is fashionably dressed, caught back with ribbon bows, and she smiles slightly as she feeds her parrot. Now, the bird itself is an African Grey, its feathers glistening in the soft light.
Notice how Van Mieris has captured the textures of this scene so well – from the rich fabrics to the braid on the back of her chair. And if you look closely at her hand, you'll see a thimble on one finger and a piece of cloth with a needle pillow on her knee. She's clearly stopped sewing to attend to her pet.
Van Mieris was one of the most celebrated painters in his time, known for his work in genre and portrait painting. He was especially famous for his 'fijnschilder' technique, which he learned from his teacher Gerrit Dou. This tiny but exquisite painting is one of his most successful works, being copied many times by others.
See it in person
A Woman in a Red Jacket feeding a Parrot hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
