Maes, Nicolaes

Maes or Maas, Nicolaes (both: nē`kōläs mäs), 1632–93, Dutch genre and portrait painter. His earlier genre pictures bear, in their manner and coloring, a certain resemblance to those of his master, Rembrandt. In Dordrecht (1653–73) he painted chiefly domestic genre on a smaller scale. His later works, mostly portraits, show the influence of Flemish art in their smooth elegance. Among his paintings are Old Woman Praying (Rijks Mus.); and Woman Dozing over a Book and Portrait of a Lady (National Gall. of Art, Washington, D.C.).

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Maes, Nicolaes

(born 1634, Dordrecht, Neth.—died Nov. 24, 1693, Amsterdam) Dutch painter. A native of Dordrecht, he went to Amsterdam c. 1650 to study with Rembrandt, from whom he learned the Baroque style. Before his return to Dordrecht in 1653 he painted a few life-size Rembrandtesque genre scenes. From 1655 to 1660 he painted smaller domestic scenes, usually of women spinning, eavesdropping, reading the Bible, or cooking. In 1673 he moved permanently to Amsterdam and devoted himself to portraiture, abandoning intimacy and the deep glowing colours characteristic of Rembrandt for elegance and cooler tones reminiscent of Anthony Van Dyck. He was a prolific painter, and he achieved great success with his portraits.