Escaped Bird: Allegory of Chastity
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
17.5; 14; 5
About this artwork
buitenmaat: diepte 5 cm (drager incl. SK-L-4099)
Art Historical Context
Frans van Mieris the Elder created this intimate oil on panel in 1676 during the Dutch Golden Age. A leading figure of the Leiden fijnschilders, or “fine painters,” van Mieris specialized in meticulously detailed works that reward close viewing. At just 17.5 by 14 centimeters, the painting exemplifies the school’s emphasis on jewel-like precision and luminous surfaces achieved through thin, layered glazes on a smooth wooden support. The title *Escaped Bird: Allegory of Chastity* signals the work’s moral dimension. In seventeenth-century emblematic tradition, a bird that has flown its cage oft...