Young Woman with Feather Fan Prepared to Go Out

Van Mieris married Cunera van der Cock in the spring of 1657, and the following year he painted this young woman dressed to go out, a feather fan in her hand. The sitter is thought to be Cunera herself, who appears in perhaps a quarter of his surviving pictures, though rarely in a formal likeness. It is taken to be the companion to a quieter portrait of her, now in the National Gallery in London, where she sits as the modest wife with her hair combed back under a white coif. Here she is caught the moment before leaving, the outdoor clothes on, the fan already in hand. Van Mieris worked small and smoothed the surface until the brushwork vanishes, so the feathers and the fall of the fabric carry the whole picture.