Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Willem van der Meer

genre

This painting is one of the earliest of its kind in Dutch art. In composition these works could be considered the unsavoury counter-parts of civic-guard company portraits, which often depicts the officers around a table laden with food. The painting was commissioned by the surgeon's guild in Delft from the leading painter of the city, Michiel van Miereveld.

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Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Willem van der Meer

About the Artist

Michiel Jansz. van Miereveld

1567 – 1641

Miereveld or Mierevelt, Dutch portrait painter, active mainly in his native Delft. In 1625 in The Hague he became Painter of the Princes of Orange. His portraits are mostly small in size, often busts only. They are dull and repetitive, but meticulously crafted and of great value as historical records. He was highly successful and enormously prolific. It is reported that Miereveld himself estimated that he made about 10.000 portraits.

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