The Riding Boot

The museum gives this little panel only a German title, Der Reiterstiefel, the riding boot, and the title picks out an object. In front, on a table, lies a rider's gear, with the tall boot among it. Behind the table a man in a hat stands close to a young woman, and the painting leaves what passes between them to the viewer. Frans van Mieris painted it in Leiden in 1666, on an oak panel with an arched top, about 27 centimetres tall. In the same small cabinet of the museum hangs Gabriel Metsu's Cook, painted in Amsterdam at almost the same time.